FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: September 29, 1998
AFL urges Tories to live up to promise on pay raises
CALGARY – It would be inappropriate for government MLA’s to vote themselves a pay raise without first resolving all outstanding wage disputes with provincial employees, says Audrey Cormack, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour. Speaking to a group of social workers who were staging a rally outside the McDougall Building in downtown Calgary this afternoon, Cormack argued that the government has a "moral responsibility" to sign fair contracts with all of its employees before even considering pay increases for MLA’s. "If you listen to Ralph Klein and other members of the Tory caucus, you’d think that all government workers have been given their five per cent back," said Cormack, referring to the five per cent wage cut imposed on all provincial public sector workers in 1994. "But that simply isn’t the case. There are still thousands of public sector workers waiting for increases. They’re still thousands of social workers, health care workers and support workers who are waiting for a fair deal." Cormack pointed out that the Klein government promised to return the five per cent cut as soon as the government’s budget was balanced. "Well, the budget has been balance for years now. In fact, over the past four years, this government has recorded more than $7 billion in budget surpluses," she said. "With these kind of surpluses, there is absolutely no excuse to maintain the wage freeze. And there is no justification for keeping wages for Alberta social workers lower than the wages earned by their counterparts in other provinces." Cormack urged the government to "do the right thing" and agree to fair contract settlements with all public sector workers – including the 2,200 social workers and about 2,000 health care and support staff around the province who have not had the freeze lifted on their salaries. "Once the Tories have kept their promise to all public sector workers, then they can start talking about pay raises for MLA’s. But until that happens we will continue to speak out against increased pay and perks for MLA’s. And we will also continue to call on the government to live up to its promises."
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