Opposition says new legislation could see province not honour public sector contracts

Legislation proposed on public sector contracts Alberta's UCP government is proposing legislation to override bargained contract agreements with public sector unions, Mark Villani reports…

The Alberta government has introduced legislation that would potentially allow it to not honour contract agreements with some public sector unions.

Finance Minister Travis Toews says the 'Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act' would temporarily delays wage talks for thousands of public sector workers across the province until after October 31, 2019 to "give us the time to fully understand Alberta's economic situation and take into consideration the advice from the MacKinnon panel, as we work to balance the budget by 2022-2023."

Nurses, social workers, hospital support staff, prison guards, conservation officers, toxicologists, restaurant inspectors, therapists and sheriffs are among those affected.

Toews says the legislation may be needed to help the government save money and the hope is to balance the provincial budget.

On Wednesday, opposition leader Rachel Notley accused Toews of not acting in good faith and she says the bill would amount to a gross abuse of power. “This government didn’t say a word about breaching the Constitution to break the law in order to steal money from nurses in the last election.”

Toews replied that all options are on the table as he works with staff to find savings and eradicate Alberta’s annual multi-billion dollar budget deficits. “Albertans expect us to be responsible with their hard earned tax dollars,” said Toews. "We’re also committed to working together in good faith with the public sector as we work to ensure we can deliver high-quality services to Albertans.”

Some unions like the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) are taking issue with the proposal.

UNA workers signed a contract agreeing that their pay would be frozen for two years before having the right, in the third year (2019), to have the wage portion re-opened and subject to binding arbitration if necessary.

Toews says the government wants to delay those talks until an independent panel, led by former Saskatchewan finance minister Janice Mackinnon, reports on August 15 on ways the province could save money to balance the books.

"We owe it to Albertans, and all public sector workers, to come to the table with information on the state of our economy and the impact it will have on our finances."

The legislation comes after the province tried to get wage reopener talks delayed by arbitrators handling talks at the table with the nurses’ union and with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

The arbitrator for the UNA granted the delay in the nurses’ wage talks, but the one handling the AUPE talks rejected it. Arbitration for some 70,000 AUPE unionized workers began on June 11. The bargaining agreements state arbitration for the wage reopeners are to be held no later than June 30.

Meanwhile, AUPE President Guy Smith, says his union will explore all options to challenge the proposed wage legislation bill if it passes.

"Obviously this new government is going to have to look at the financial situation, I understand that,” Smith said. “But what they need to understand is there's a legally binding contract that we entered into with the Government of Alberta and other employers, and the arbitration process was part of that. So they're breaking a contract.”

Bill 9, the Public Sector Wage Arbitration Deferral Act, was tabled in the Alberta legislature on Thursday.