If you ask a stranger what they think about privatization, what do you think they will say?
Most people will take a second to think about it. They will probably ask you what you mean. Privatization? Do you mean something to do with someone’s private information, or something else? Private services? But commercials, big businesses, and politicians say private services are the best!
Truth be told, most people do not think about privatization at all. But those same people actually know all about the dangers of privatization, you just have to ask about the real issues that matter.
That stranger might not know what privatization would do to health care services, but they definitely know how hard their life would be if they broke their hip, could not go to work, and had to pay for surgery out of their own pocket. They may not know all about private drug companies or pharmacare, but they desperately wish they could help their relative who cannot afford their prescription.
Enter AUPE’s Anti-Privatization committee. The committee has several roles and responsibilities, and one of those is to educate members and the public about privatization’s negative effects on the crucial services we all depend on.
“Things go wrong whenever core public services are privatized,” says Darren Graham, AUPE Vice-President and chair of the committee. “The bottom line is that we all want quality, efficient services, things like health care, government services, and education, and the fact is these services get worse if they are run by private, for-profit companies.”
If there were no differences between public and private services, there would be no problem. However, there is a difference, and that difference is stark for AUPE members and those who rely on public services.
For workers, privatization is simple: it means you lose your job. If your job is privatized but you are ‘lucky,’ the new private company may hire you to do the same job, but you will get less pay, no benefits, no union contract, fewer hours and worse schedules.
“We have to be proactive, not just reactive. Privatization will be a threat to public services and our jobs so long as politicians and their friends want to cut corners to make their millions, which probably won’t change anytime soon.”
For Albertans, privatization means poor-quality, expensive services. Private companies will do whatever they can get away with in order to make more money, so their employees are forced to work short-staffed and deliver a worse product or service. It’s not the workers’ fault, it’s the companies, but it’s Albertans who pay the price.
That’s why, even if public and private services delivered the same results, politicians and big businesses would still try to privatize them, because their priority is to make lots of money for owners and shareholders.
“We are talking about essential, life-saving services here, but the corporations don’t care at all, they just want to make money,” says Graham. “They always say privatization will save us money, but that’s just not true, especially when it comes to core government services.”
Many AUPE members have felt the negative impact of privatization in recent years. In 2021, the UCP government promised to fire 11,000 front-line health care workers, most of whom are AUPE members. The government succeeded in the first stages of their plan, privatizing laundry and retail food services in Alberta Health Services.
The government—and other employers—stopped short of further privatization because of the strong job security language AUPE members negotiated into their collective agreements. But members should be on our guard for further privatization attempts now that the election is over, especially in services such as government trades positions, support jobs in hospitals like environmental and patient food services, court clerk jobs, and municipal services. That is why we must always fight for job security at the bargaining table.
AUPE members know what it takes to save our jobs from privatization. We don’t always win these battles, like with hospital laundry and retail food services, but when we do win it is because of hard work and solidarity.
“Unfortunately for corporations and their political friends, our wellbeing is not for sale,” says Graham.
In 2021, the UCP government also tried to privatize Alberta’s Land Titles, Personal Property, and Corporate Registries, which are important front-line services provided by AUPE members in Locals 001, 002, and 012.
What would privatization have meant in this case? First, about 130 AUPE members would have lost their jobs. Second, the province would have lost out on the $123.6 million these services generated during the 2019 fiscal year. Third, because the government wanted at 35 year private contract, Albertans would have missed out on approximately $4.3 billion dollars.
AUPE members fought back against the government’s privatization plan. They used several strategies, including a letter writing campaign, rallies, and door-knocking to inform the public of the issue. Eventually, after a lot of hard work, the government backed down.
AUPE members in Local 052 also stopped privatization in its tracks when the University of Calgary tried to sell the campus bookstore. Members jumped on this campaign early and organized efficiently. They even put up Save the Bookstore posters in the bookstore—not on cork-boards, not on posts around campus, but in the bookstore itself. They dared the university to take the posters down. In a way, they dared them to privatize the bookstore. And they successfully saved the bookstore.
AUPE members won these battles, but there is never a final victory. There is no telling when the government might try to privatize these services again.
That is just one reason why Graham says the struggle against privatization must go on. It is also why the committee is organizing privatization info sessions with AUPE components across the province. Their goal is to ensure members are already organized and ready whenever future threats of privatization rear their ugly heads.
“We have to be proactive, not just reactive,” he says. “Privatization will be a threat to public services and our jobs so long as politicians and their friends want to cut corners to make their millions, which probably won’t change anytime soon.”