Same economic conditions apply to unionized government employees as senior managers, AUPE Executive Secretary-Treasurer says
EDMONTON – The Government of Alberta needs to remember that the same economic factors and conditions affect its unionized employees as its senior managers, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees Executive Secretary-Treasurer Bill Dechant said today.
Dechant was responding to media reports that the most senior Alberta public employees, such as deputy ministers, were given raises of 25 per cent or more in the 2005-2006 fiscal year.
“Negotiations between AUPE and the provincial government for a new collective agreement for all direct employees of the province are about to begin,” Dechant said.
“The government’s negotiators need to be mindful during this process that unionized government employees are subject to the same economic pressures as senior employees,” he said.
In addition, said Dechant, as an employer, the government faces the same difficulties recruiting and retaining qualified employees in the midst of an overheated economy, as do other Alberta employers.
“Our members took a hit in the mid-1990s and have worked hard to build this province,” he said. “If the employer wishes to keep these people now in a very tight labour market, and to attract new employees of similar quality, it is going to have to show them the same kind of consideration as it has shown senior managers.”
Members of AUPE’s General Service Bargaining Committee, which represents the approximately 20,000 direct employees of the provincial government, participated in a conference call this week to begin setting out their goals for the next round of bargaining.
The current agreement between the provincial government and the nine AUPE Government Service Sector locals, which are numbered Local 001 to 012 for historical reasons, is set to expire on Aug. 31, 2007.
A conference of the union’s GSBC is scheduled to take place in Red Deer early next year.
“Inflation is heating up in Alberta and general pay increases for all direct employees of the government need to reflect that economic reality,” Dechant said.
“In addition, soaring housing and other costs in some communities need to be addressed,” he said. “AUPE also has contractual issues related to working conditions and benefits that will need to be dealt with in this round of negotiations.”
For more information, contact:
Bill Dechant, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, AUPE, 780-930-3302 or 780-232-3870 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)