From gas to groceries, inflation is soaring to levels not experienced since the 1980s. Average Albertans cannot shoulder this on their own, and more and more working families are falling behind.

At the same time, Canadian corporations are reporting record profits. While ordinary people struggle to keep up, corporations are taking advantage of inflation to raise prices even higher, gouging consumers to generate excess profits.  And many employers are refusing to provide wage adjustments to ensure workers’ pay keeps pace with the cost-of-living.   

There is a better way. Together, we can tackle inflation and protect working families from predatory profiteering.

Here’s how: 

1. Implement regulatory oversight and price controls to reign in price gouging in industries with high corporate concentration.
2. Implement an excess profit or ‘windfall’ tax to redistribute surplus wealth and disincentivize predatory profiteering by big businesses.  
3. Promote the widespread adoption of cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) that tie wages to inflation in employment contracts and collective agreements.
4. Make it easier for workers to unionize and negotiate collectively by implementing single-step union certification.

Workers have shouldered the brunt of the fallout from economic, health, and social pressures and pay a far higher tax rate than corporations to keep our communities running. The last three years have shown us that we need to have built-in protections, not only to keep people safe but to also protect their financial health. We must put in place levers that stop corporations from taking advantage of working Albertans, and we must do it now.