This Labour Day, union members in Alberta have a lot to celebrate – and a lot to be concerned about, says Audrey Cormack, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour.

On the positive side, the past twelve months have been filled with important victories for unions and the workers they represent.

Thanks to the hard work of public sector unions like the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), thousands of government workers from around the province are enjoying the biggest pay raises that they’ve seen in years.

Four years ago, people working in provincial civil service and in provincially-funded workplaces like schools, hospitals and universities, were forced to accept a five percent cut in pay. Now most of those workers have won their money back – with interest.

To top things off, the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal recently ordered the federal government to increase the wages of people working in female-dominated job categories in the federal public service.

"1998 has definitely turned out to be the year of the big pay-back," says Cormack. "It really looks like we’ve turned the corner. Workers are demanding their fair share. And rightly so!"

But these wages settlements didn’t come without a fight. Many public sector employers obviously wanted to keep wages low. Unions were only able to win increases by taking action. In the case of hospital workers in Edmonton and school board employees in Calgary, union members actually had to go on strike to win fair deals.

Cormack says 1998 has also been a good year for many unions and workers in the private sector. On average, contract settlements in the private sector have been slightly higher than settlements in the public sector. Some private sector workers have seen even bigger increases. For example, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) recently negotiated a deal that guarantees 3,500 electrical workers from across the province a pay increase of 12.25 per cent over two years.

The union movement has also won some important victories away from the bargaining table. After years of lobbying, unions and community groups were finally able to convince the government to increase the provincial minimum wage – at least a little.

"When it comes to minimum wage, we won a partial victory," says Cormack. "The minimum wage in Alberta is still too low, but a least we’ve taken a step in the right direction."

But despite all of these positive developments, Cormack says that the news has not been all good for unions and workers in 1998.

The economy may be booming, but many employers are still demanding concessions from their employees. For example, Fletchers Foods recently called on its workers to accept wage cuts of up to five dollars an hours – even though the company is more profitable than it has ever been.

At the same time, statistics have shown that many Albertans are not benefiting from the province’s current economic boom.

In a study published in May – called Missing out on the Boom – the AFL showed that wages for hourly workers are 15 per cent lower today than they were in 1983, after adjusting for inflation. Part-time and contract work is also on the rise. And full-time jobs are being slowly replaced by poorly-paid self-employment.

"These are troubling trends," says Cormack. "It’s clear that we in the labour movement still have our work cut out for us."

Alberta in 1998 is also still a place where many employers take unfair advantage of workers. Just last month, the AFL revealed that many of the people working for popular and profitable restaurants at "Taste of Edmonton" festival were not being paid for their work.

"The revelations about employment practices at the Taste of Edmonton festival simply point out the weakness of labour laws here in Alberta and the reluctance of our government to protect workers’ rights," says Cormack. "It also reminds us why unions are still so important. No one else is going to fight to protect the interests of working people."

As we near the beginning of the 21st century, Cormack says unions will have to face these and other challenges.

"Both in the short term and over the long term, we have a lot of battles to fight," says Cormack. "We have to fight against privatization of municipal services like water and power. We have to fight against privatization in health care and under-funding in education. We also have to fight against the down-loading of federal responsibilities and powers to the provinces. Finally, we have to keep up our fight against the MAI and other threats caused by the so-called globalization of our economy."

Cormack admits that there are many roadblocks and hurdles ahead for working people. But she says the labour movement in Alberta is strong enough to weather the storm.

"In many ways, we are living in troubled times," she says. "Working people will be faced with all sorts of problems and pressures as we enter the 21st century. But I’m confident that we’ll be up to the challenge."