Hundreds protest against proposed cuts to Alberta’s public sector workforce
LETHBRIDGE, AB – Healthcare workers, members of the public sector, and those from the general public took to the picket lines outside of Chinook Regional Hospital Tuesday.
In his first budget last October, Finance Minister Travis Toews announced that the provincial government plans to reduce the overall size of the public sector workforce by 7.7%, which will primarily happen through attrition.
Toews later said the province will be asking arbitrators to impose a 2% wage cut for collective bargaining agreements that are being negotiated between the government and unions.
Vice President of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) Karen Weiers says they felt they needed to stand up and show their opposition.