Conservatives Outlaw Collective Bargaining for Alberta Provincial Government Workers
In the wake of the federal Conservative Party’s passing of a resolution in November 2013 at its Calgary convention that continues legislative attacks on workers, the Alberta Conservatives under Alison Redford are passing a law that makes collective bargaining virtually illegal for provincial government workers in the province, freezes wages and effectively outlaws strikes.
This latest law follows Bill C-377, Bill C-525, and Bill C-4, enacted by the Harper Conservatives, attacking workers’ rights and unions under federal jurisdiction, as well as proposed Right to Freeload legislation by the Conservative opposition in Ontario.
This is nothing short of a concerted and premeditated effort on the part of Conservatives to break unions and reduce the standard of living of all working Canadians.
Why you ask? What could possibly motivate a political party to embark on a self destructive economic policy like cutting the earning power of the middle class? The answer is greed.
[blockquote align=”left”]A Canadian worker voting Conservative is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.
[/blockquote]Since the late 1960s, the federal and state governments of the United States have embarked on a similar campaign of anti-union legislation and propaganda, driving the unionization rate in that country from 30% to about 12%. During the same time period, the middle class share of the national income fell by 10% and is still falling.
As a result, the United States has the greatest level of income inequality of any major industrialized nation. The rich receive a far higher percentage of the national income in the United States than in comparable countries.
The Conservatives want to bring this American model of the rich getting richer and the middle class shrinking to Canada. They want a bigger piece of the pie for the wealthy economic interests who support them, and for that to happen, the middle class has to be given a smaller piece.
I hope all you middle class folks are prepared to make do with less so our provincial and federal Conservatives can feed the rich your supper. Welcome to Conservative Canada – so long, of course, as you are not intent on continuing to feed your family at the expense of the wealthy.
A Canadian worker voting Conservative is like a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders.
