New report shows there are now thousands fewer Albertans with jobs than when the UCP took over
For Immediate Release
February 7, 2020
EDMONTON – A report released by Statistics Canada today shows there are now fewer jobs in Alberta today than when the UCP won the provincial election last April on promises of “jobs, economy, pipelines!”
Specifically, the latest Labour Force Survey shows there are 9,000 fewer Albertans with jobs compared to this time last year, even as the provincial population has grown by 58,000.
“Albertans voted for jobs and economic growth, but what they’re getting is the exact opposite,” says Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour, the province’s largest worker advocacy organization.
“It is becoming more and more clear that the UCP’s ‘austerity economics’ is killing jobs, not creating them. And it’s going to get worse. They have a plan to deliberately pile public sector job losses on top of private sector job losses. Laying off teachers and nurses won’t bring back jobs for oil field workers and construction workers; it will just mean more unemployed Albertans. This is a recipe for economic contraction and decline, not growth and recovery.”
McGowan says that the track record of the kind of austerity economics being implemented by the UCP is clear: it doesn’t work.
“Right-wing politicians have been peddling this ‘tough medicine/tighten our belts’ approach for decades in dozens and dozens of jurisdictions around the world. They say it’s the only way to deal with recessions and economic stagnation. But guess what? It invariably makes bad situations worse.”
McGowan says that Albertans have to be prepared to push back when the Kenney government introduces its budget at the end of the month.
“Tax cuts for profitable corporations. Deep cuts to public services. Lay-offs and wage roll backs. This is the kind of economic snake oil that the UCP is pushing on us. But it’s poison. And we should refuse to swallow it.”
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MEDIA CONTACT:
Gil McGowan
President, AFL
(780) 218-9888 or gmcgowan@afl.org