Alberta has released a salary offer for public employees

The Alberta government is offering a 7.5 per cent wage increase in collective bargaining, while public employees are calling for a 26 per cent raise.

More than 22,000 members of the Alberta Provincial Employees Union will be involved in negotiations that began this year, including social services, corrections and natural resource conservation workers.

In an earlier update to members, the union called the government's four-year proposal an insult.

The union's counteroffer lasts three years.

Finance Minister Nate Horner says his United Conservative Party government values ​​the public service, but publicly funded workers will not see the paychecks demanded by unions anywhere in Canada.

Horner calls the union's wage position extreme.

“The Government of Alberta will not increase taxes or cut programs, services or workers to accommodate the unprecedented wage increases that will result in wages well above market rates,” Horner said in a press release Monday.

Union president Guy Smith said the government had been aware of the union's proposals since March 6 and would not budge on what the union called fair and reasonable demands.

Smith called Horner's statement baseless and unhelpful.

“The cost of living has risen for everyone and every worker has the right to receive fair, livable compensation from their employers,” he said.

Smith said negotiations should be conducted in good faith and at the bargaining table, not through the press.

“There is no reason any public servant should not be able to afford food, clothing and rent while working full-time in the government of a very wealthy province,” the union said in a February update.

This Canadian Press report was first published on April 15, 2024.