For the workers who may soon have to contend with lockouts or a protracted strike, Alberta’s deteriorating labour peace signals a lot of incoming stress. But for the general public frustrated with a UCP government shrugging off all public opposition, it presents an opportunity.

The progressive discourse today in Alberta is gloomy, and understandably so. Loud, organized, and persistent public pressure hasn’t stopped the UCP from opening up the Eastern Slopes of the Rockies to coal exploration. The province is still pushing forward on its Alberta provincial police force plan. The Alberta NDP are polling so badly—and Smith so well—that Dave Cournoyer is warning the party of a “five-alarm fire.” And the approaching municipal elections look like they’ll be a massacre for progressive politicians, especially with the emergence of funding-rich conservative municipal parties and election rules changes from the UCP that stack the deck.

It seems like no one can score a win against these guys. But that’s not true.

Earlier this year, the UCP government tried to stick the United Nurses of Alberta with a collective agreement that would only raise their wages by 7.5 per cent over the next four years—much less than inflation would erode their wages in the same time.

But they fought.They refused that offer and stood their ground. And they ultimately secured not just 7.5 per cent but 12.5, a significant concession.

Education support workers who only last year were being threatened with a cut in wages walked the line and through their strike action secured modest raises instead.

And if COVID-19 hasn’t destroyed too many of your memory cells, you may recall that wildcat strikes in 2020 cut short the Kenney UCP’s plan to privatize 11,000 public health care jobs.

Civility only works when both sides are prepared to be reasonable and flexible. When your opponent is a brick wall, you need a sledgehammer. It remains true today that the potential to withhold labour and disrupt operations is power, real power, and sterner stuff than a social media campaign or a round of petitions.

As Alberta heads into what may be a historic strike season (we haven’t seen a province-wide teachers’ strike in over twenty years) we’ll be redoubling our efforts here at the Report to keep apprised of labour action and to keep you informed about how you might participate. Because contending with power takes power—and if you don’t know where yours is, you can find it on the picket line.

From the Report:

• Last week a report from the Investigative Journalism Foundation revealed that despite saying he was prompted by parents, Demetrios Nicolaides actually got the target list for his proposed book ban from anti-LGBTQ2S+ lobby groups Parents for Choice in Education and Action4Canada. We followed up with Alberta Teachers’ Association Jason Schilling who says the UCP should listen to teachers, not far-right interest groups.

Sundries

• Several of our friends and comrades in the left media sphere are hosting a two-day symposium in Calgary next weekend to bring academics and independent journalists together. Jeremy is one of the panelists and I will be in attendance.
  
  
• As allowed by UCP legislation that no one was really asking for, municipal political parties are emerging in Calgary and in Edmonton. To date we have not seen a single party even a hair left of centre, likely because the new party rules are very favorable to wealthy donors.
  
  
• David Climenhaga’s recent column explains Naheed Nenshi’s rough ride as Alberta NDP leader well.
  
  
• Edmonton activists opposing the ongoing genocide in Gaza are taking part in a global forty-day fast in protest. You can find updates from their campaign and information about how to participate on the campaign’s Instagram. We spoke with them this week for our upcoming Progress Report podcast episode, so keep an eye on your feed for that.
  
  
• Chelsea Vowel, the author of Indigenous Writes: A Guide to First Nations, Métis & Inuit in Canada, is seeking support for her project to develop an online course teaching the Cree language. I encourage you to join me in supporting this project, and not just because I want this course to exist so that I can take it.

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