LETHBRIDGE – Alberta Federation of Labour President Gil McGowan warned delegates that without a concerted effort by Albertans, public services are facing attack and decay at the hands of the Stelmach government.
McGowan compared the government to a rich guy with a hole in his pocket. When times are good, he doesn’t care too much about the money he is losing, but in bad times, he complains about the lack of money instead of fixing the hole.
“So what does the government say about the economic pain of the recession? They say ‘let’s deal with jobs crisis by laying people off.’ For others –‘let’s freeze their pay and slash their benefits’. And ‘let’s cut plans for unemployed youth and jack up tuition fees’ – what a brilliant strategy!”
“We can do better, and there is a growing coalition of Albertans is gathering to support our services.”
McGowan outlined the AFL’s “Join together Alberta” campaign against the Stelmach government’s approach to the economic downturn. Public meetings have been held in over 20 communities across the province, and McGowan says the response has been encouraging.
“What we saw is that we are not alone in believing in the public services that your members deliver and ordinary Albertans take advantage of.”
CUPE National has contributed $25,000 to the campaign, and CUPE Alberta pledged to make a further contribution from it's "On your side Alberta" fund.
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