Last week, Premier Jim Prentice made good on a statement issued earlier in January when the price of oil began to create a huge economic headache for the provincial government.
The five-per-cent pay cut taken by Prentice and the cabinet translated into exactly what the premier stated – the government must shoulder the same financial restraint and burden it is going to ask Alberta residents and business to bear when they bring down their budget within the next couple of months.
And while this does establish somewhat of an example in what the rest of the province should be doing at this time, it is also setting the stage for a much bigger – and likely harder – battle with public sector unions as well as huge selling job to regular Albertans.
Unions representing various workers that are paid, directly or indirectly, by the province – including nurses, emergency workers and civil servants – have already begun waging the battle for public opinion through television and radio advertising against the possibility of wage rollbacks through reopening their recently signed collective agreements.
Several unions have categorized the rumours as an attack on front-line staff that will have grand effects on services available to the public and creates distrust in the government.
While there is no doubt that for many years, many professionals in the public sector – teachers, health care workers and some provincial government departments – have seen fewer and fewer people expected to the job for either a fractional increase or none at all as their workload rises each year.
However, as can be seen in the provincial government’s sunshine list – a twice annual report on government employee salaries that are $100,000 and above – as well as through researching various union deals, there seems to be plenty of fat that could be trimmed and save the hard-working Albertans the potential of heavier burdens such as higher taxes.
The winds of a showdown are blowing across the prairie landscape of Alberta and it seems, both the unions and the Prentice-led government, have each other in their financial crosshairs.
One can hope a compromise occurs soon, lest we see job and service cuts not seen since the 1980s and 90s.
If that happens, regular Albertans are going to be scrambling for cover as fast as tumbleweeds rolling through an open field, in hopes that they can avoid the dreaded shootout.
