Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) President Gil McGowan made the following statement:

EDMONTON – “Danielle Smith’s comment that union workers should vote for her would be funny, if it wasn’t so offensive. The UCP is the party that froze the minimum wage. It’s the party that made it harder for workers to join unions and bargain collectively. It’s the party that gutted workplace health and safety protections and has reckless and irresponsible plans to pull Alberta out of the Canada Pension Plan.”

“The UCP exacerbated public-sector staff shortages and chased health care workers out of the province during a pandemic. They gave employers a mechanism to avoid paying overtime. And they are currently refusing to get rid of laws that allow employers to bust unions and get around union contracts in construction and other parts of the private sector.”

“To top things off, they’ve presided over the slowest wage growth in the country – even before the cost of living started to skyrocket. There is no credible reason why Alberta workers – union or non-union – should vote for Danielle Smith. She presides over the most anti-worker government in Alberta history.”

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