Wintry weather did not put a chill on a demonstration calling for better wages and working conditions for workers of all stripes in downtown Calgary.
Chants of “workers united will never be defeated” rang out as multiple unions marched from Calgary City Hall to the Harry Hays Building midday Friday.
The demonstration comes at a time when members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) are participating in job action across the country. And in this province, workers in Fort McMurray-area camps are facing job loss, over $7-per-hour wage cuts and the elimination of guaranteed hours.
“Both Civeo and Imperial Oil are being extremely profitable at the moment. They came to our membership in November of last year when they had a year left on their contract and said, ‘The cost of business up here has changed and you guys need to take these rollbacks or we’re going to replace you,’” Chris O’Halloran, executive director of UFCW Local 401 said.
UFCW represents staff at some oilsands camps.
O’Halloran said 90 per cent of their members voted against the offer and last week, Civeo delivered termination notices for more than 300 workers.
“We’ve had people who have been there for 16 years in a remote camp setting, in a hotel, providing cooking, cleaning services for the people that have built the oil and gas sector for Imperial Oil,” he said.
“And now Imperial Oil just signed a new 12-year contract and is trying to force down wages.”
Global News reached out to Civeo for comment.
The union representatives at the “Workers demand better” rally said with Alberta’s economy performing better than in recent years, companies posting record profits, a tight labour market allowing workers to readily find jobs and record inflation, workers shouldn’t lower their expectations.
“There’s no reason for them to expect less. There’s no reason for them to put up with disrespect in the working workplace. So our message is that workers demand better,” Alberta Federation of Labour president Gil McGowan said Friday.
“What we’re saying as a labour movement representing more than 175,000 working Albertans in this province is that we’re done putting up with it. Our employers and both the private sector and the public sector, they can afford to do better.”
The march to the Harry Hays Building was to show solidarity with the PSAC picket line.
Rory Gill of the Canadian Union of Public Employees said the PSAC labour action and recent Ontario teachers strike show the labour movement in Canada has been “revitalized in a way I haven’t seen in my lifetime.”
“There’s a moment in Canada right now, not just in Alberta, where workers are saying, ‘We want better. We want better schools. We want better governance. We want better social services,’” Gill said.
“It’s not just at the bargaining table. It’s right across society. And we’re going to change this.”
Members of the Health Services Association of Alberta (HSAA) took part in the demonstration, the day after talks with Dynalife were said to have broken down.
“We’ve taken our zeroes (in wage increases). We’ve done the work to get this province through a pandemic,” HSAA president Mike Parker said Thursday. “It’s time to treat our workers with respect and treat them better.”
HSAA and Dynalife have begun essential service agreement discussions, a step towards formal mediation. Dynalife said it is committed to reaching a collective agreement that’s “in the best interest of our staff and Albertans.”
Workers are also seeking improvements to working conditions, the unions said.
Part of the PSAC dispute is around how much of the work federal workers can do from home rather than needing to be in the office. PSAC said the “vast majority” of the services they provide to Canadians can be done on a computer and with an internet connection. Their members would prefer to do that from home for a variety of reasons.
“That work life balance piece is a massive piece in the current labour market. Our employees are showing that they need that work-life balance, they’re demanding that work life balance,” Alex Creamer, chair of the PSAC Calgary-area council said.
“And in order for the public service to stay competitive and to be able to maintain our level of standard of employment and our level of service to Canadians, we need to attract good candidates.”
Creamer said the demand to return to the office has also impacted morale.
Charles Smith, an associate professor of political studies at the University of Saskatchewan said the labour movement is having a moment nationwide.
“We’re kind of in this moment where I think, historically, we haven’t seen sort of high inflation and crises affecting people’s pocketbooks in the way they are right now,” Smith told Global News, saying the “recipe” is there for heightened union activity.
“I wouldn’t suspect that we’re going to see the end of this anytime soon.”
“The one sort of light at the end of the tunnel might be as inflation keeps falling, wage demands will be different over time. There is a bit of a correlation historically between periods of high inflation and higher periods of labour unrest.”
McGowan said there’s an economic argument for having unions negotiate improved wages for their members.
“Canadians have to understand that if workers get a better deal at the bargaining table in the public and private sector, that’s good for everyone, because when a union wins a good wage settlement for their members, that pulls up wages for everyone else, both in the public and private sector,” the AFL president said.
“And that’s even good for the economy, because money in workers’ pockets is money that’s going to be spent in the economy.”