EDMONTON – Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) President Gil McGowan made the following statement in response to the announcement of the new cabinet for the Government of Alberta:

“Since Danielle Smith took over the Government of Alberta last fall, she has refused to appoint a Minister of Labour. It’s profoundly disappointing to see the Premier deliberately repeat this snub to Alberta workers by not appointing one today.”

“Smith’s term is already off to a terrible start if she’s not going to have a dedicated Minister to fix the numerous problems currently in labour: wage growth in both the public and private sector is lagging behind most of the rest of Canada. Occupational Health & Safety standards have been ravaged by the UCP Government. Staffing shortages are crippling public services.”

“Nevertheless, workers will continue to demand better. We have pressured previous conservative governments to better the lives of Albertans in the past. We will do so again.”

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MEDIA CONTACT:
John Ashton
Director of Communications, AFL
E-mail: jashton@afl.org

 

BACKGROUND:

– On wage suppression: https://thetyee.ca/Opinion/2023/05/26/Vote-For-UCP-Vote-Wage-Suppression/

– On Occupational Health & Safety: https://www.afl.org/starting_tomorrow_employers_will_no_longer_be_required_to_keep_injured_workers_on_benefit_plans_or_hire_them_back_when_they_recover

– On Staffing shortages: https://action.afl.org/blog-well-be-short-thousands-of-nurses-in-the-next-few-years-alberta-needs-to-step-up/