To honour International Women’s Day, AFL highlights UCP cuts and attacks on women

EDMONTON – Alberta women are actually moving backwards as the UCP continues to introduce more and more funding cuts and policies that target women, says Alberta’s largest labour organization.

To honour Alberta women for March 8, International Women’s Day, the Alberta Federation of Labour has created a blog to identify some of Kenney’s many cuts that target women.

Kenney is cutting child care, children services, seniors’ programs, education and health care, these cuts negatively effect not only those who work in this sector but those who rely on the services provided.

“When we analyze these changes with a gendered lens, it is obvious that Kenney is attacking women. Women still are responsible for the majority of unpaid care, so they are the ones who pay the price when our public social services are being undermined,” said Alberta Federation of Labour, secretary treasurer, Siobhan Vipond. “It is also clear that these cuts will have a negative impact on non-binary folks, those with different abilities, racialized folks, and others whose intersectionality is being ignored by this government.”

All of these attacks and cuts undermine the ability for women in Alberta to work, and add to the fact that Alberta still has one of the highest gender pay gaps. This pay gap persists despite Alberta having one of the highest employment participation rates in Canada for women.

“We have to be aware that an attack on our public service is an attack on our women,” Vipond said. “When the UCP talks about health care, education, and public service workers, they are talking about women. When they talk about public-sector cuts, they’re talking about an attack on women’s rights. And women’s rights are human rights.”

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Ramona Franson
Director, Communications, AFL
rfranson@afl.org