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Members of Unifor in Alberta joined other union members from across the province to protest cuts to basic retirement benefits in Edmonton today.
“The Alberta government must be attempting to cover up their own incompetence,” said Scott Doherty, Unifor’s Western Region Director. “Alberta’s public sector pensions are on solid ground, so the problem must be the Premier’s economic management.”
Despite -22 degree weather, nearly 2,000 Albertans showed up to express their opposition to the a one-sided re-write of government employee pension rights.
In September 2013, the Alberta Conservative government announced plans to destabilize public sector pension funds with a series of amendments that contradict independent analyses of the pension fund. Redford has also refused to negotiate with the workers who pay into the fund.
“Alberta is technically a rich province, but the Conservatives are running it into the ground,” said Jerry Dias, Unifor’s National President. “Attacking the rights of seniors is a low blow, even for Redford. Unifor is going to fight back because seniors deserve respect and dignity in retirement.”
Changes to the pension plans are expected to be introduced in the next legislative session, which opens Monday, March 3.
