Thread by @CupeAB

1. THREAD

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill @RoryGillAB is speaking today to the annual CUPE AB convention. This thread will capture his comments in real time. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

@RoryGillAB 2. No matter what challenge the last two years have thrown at our members they overcome and so has our union. The proudest statement that I can make is that I am CUPE member.

3. At our last convention, I and many of you, believed that the vaccines that were beginning to be rolled out would provide an end to the pandemic and the public health protections.

4. As time went on, it came as a surprise to many of us how much time we needed to spend representing members who refused to be vaccinated or even wear a mask at work. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

5. I think it’s important to make my position clear. We value individual rights, but we also know that if we don’t value those around us, none of us are really free. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

6. Choosing not to be vaccinated, for reasons not protected by human rights legislation, makes it difficult and unsafe for others to be in your presence in the workplace. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

7. The UCP government has made what I believe to be a precipitous and dangerous decision to end almost all public health protections. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

8. Twice before, such policies have led to sudden & drastic increases in COVID. And while I sincerely hope it will not occur, I fear that this latest policy decision will have the same result. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

9. Front line workers accepted the public health protections (and the inconveniences) because we knew they protected the most vulnerable people in our society. . #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

10. Protecting the vulnerable and ensuring that everyone in Alberta is valued, is a great expression of what we believe as trade unionists.

11. When these values are compared to the decision made by the UCP government to endanger us all to score political points with the most regressive & reactionary elements in our society it won’t be hard for most people to figure out which side they are on.

12With that in mind I want to thank you. I am so truly proud of how CUPE has worked to protect our members and the public in these most difficult of times.

13. For the most part you have had no help from government or employers but you have all been professional, empathetic, and determined. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

14. I would like to address the recent convoys and occupations we saw in Ottawa, Coutts, Windsor and many other places across the country. The so-called ‘truckers’ protests.

15. I do not and never will support their cause and anti-democratic tactics. But I acknowledge that there are people across Canada that have been hurt by COVID and they have been abandoned by governments who have not kept their promises of financial support.

16. But the people organizing the convoys are NOT the ones to solve these problems. Those organizers have a history in far-right, extremist politics. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

17. They unashamedly display racist symbols, espouse open admiration for fascist ideology and exploit vulnerable people for their own ends. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

18. Real change will come from movements that treat everyone equally and with dignity. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

19. Jason Kenney and other UCP politicians have pandered to values of this anti-democratic movement.

20. Second to COVID, the biggest threat to workers in our province continues to be the UCP government. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

21. Jason Kenney’s focus of the last few months has been to appeal to the most extreme elements of our society to win a leadership vote two weeks from now in Red Deer. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

22. Let me lay out a scenario in which Kenney loses that review. The UCP will put all their baggage on him, and then tell us their new leader is the answer to Alberta’s problems. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

23. A new UCP leader is not the answer. The UCP produced Jason Kenney and their next leader is probably going to be worse. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

24. Conservatives have played this scheme over and over again.

25. When Klein’s popularity was dragging, they brought in Stelmach. When people didn’t like Stelmach, they fired him and brought in Redford.

26. Conservatives pretend the problem is in their current leader (whom they picked). But the problem is with conservatives themselves. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

27. Conservatives choose massive corporate tax breaks. Conservatives gave us sky high electricity bills, tuition, higher personal taxes, higher car insurance rates and a higher cost of living.

28. Conservatives are taking our education curriculum back to the stone age.

29. Conservatives travel to Hawaii while telling us to stay home. Conservatives told us to end COVID protections too early and took too long to bring them back.

30. Under the UCP, we’ve lost 1,000 teachers in Alberta classrooms. They cut spending in health care, post-secondary, municipal transfers, police and justice and everywhere else.

31. The UCP promised 55,000 new jobs. They are 138,000 jobs behind. Unemployment is at 9% and is higher in Calgary than in any other major Canadian city.

32. Conservatives are the problem. And the solution is a government that isn’t conservative. #alberta #ableg #abpoli #canlab

33. Alberta has a government addicted to lying and misdirection. The budget showed it again.

34. The UCP claims it is building a new hospital in Red Deer, but they only budgeted $139 million over three years.

35. The hospital requires $1.8 billion. At the current pace, the hospital will open in 40 years.

36. I don’t recall a single UCP MLA voting against cuts to health care, education and municipal funding even though several of them make no mystery of their opposition to Jason Kenney.

37. UCP MLAs only object to Kenney’s leadership when they feel he is not right wing ENOUGH!

38. We need to stop the cycle of changing leaders and instead change parties. We must defeat the Conservatives and make sure they stay out of office a good long time while the province fixes the problems the UCP gave us.

39. The good news is we are winning the fight against Jason Kenney and the UCP. We see it in the polls, the party fundraising numbers, and in our conversations with co-workers, friends and family.

40. Everyone is tired of these guys. We’re tired of the excuses, the lies, the poor economy, and the terrible approach to COVID.

41. The fact Kenney may lose his job on April 9th is because the rest of his party is scrambling to stay in power.

42. We are winning the fight against the UCP. But we can’t stop. We can’t stop if Kenney is dumped next month, and we can’t stop if a new UCP leader is elected.

43. We have to keep up all efforts until May 29, 2023 when the next election is held. We are winning. We can win, but we must keep our eyes on the prize.

44. Look at what happened in the municipal elections last October. I don’t think Alberta has ever seen such a wave of progressive success.

45. CUPE is committed to improving the working conditions of all of our members but in the K-12 sector, we have a particular challenge, and a real opportunity this year.

46. Most staff in the K-12 sector have not seen meaningful wage increases in over seven years.

47. The average Educational Assistant in Alberta makes just $27,495 per year. This is a position that requires a minimum one year of post-secondary education and is entrusted with the care and education of some of the most vulnerable students in our society.

48. The UCP government wants these workers to accept no wage increases. Again. Completely, absolutely, totally FUCKING unacceptable.

49. We will fight with everything we have to get the proper and long overdue wage increases our members in the education sector so deserve for their dedicated and selfless service.

50. We need to make the education of our children a profession which attracts the best and the brightest, not chase them away.

51. By the fall, almost every single CUPE member in K-12 will be without a contract. That gives us a tremendous opportunity to make gains for our members.

52. In health care our members have for two years selflessly worked in the most dangerous of conditions, only to have the UCP tell them they want to privatize their jobs, and take away their pensions and union protections.

53. In the same breath, they call front line workers ‘heroes’ and complain about ‘union run hospitals.’

54. Most people understand the key lessons learned from COVID are that we need to treat front line workers better, not worse.

55. When our seniors couldn’t be visited by family because of COVID, it’s the front-line workers who become de facto family.

56. COVID 19 put a spotlight on the crumbling long term care system across Canada. The system couldn’t keep up.

57. The UCP government commissioned and received a report into the state of long term care in Alberta and its recommendations were no surprise to CUPE members.

58. Long term care staffing levels need to be increased, wages need to go up, and care levels must be increased at all levels.

59. It’s not just the humane thing to do, it’s imperative to keep our health care system from collapse.

60.While we will always have problems, there is no problem that won’t be at least a little bit better when we elect a new government. #ableg

61. And when that happens, we can really start to work to build the province we all want Alberta to be.

62. A province where taxes are based on one’s ability to pay, with the richest paying the most.

63. An Alberta where we transition to greener energy and create jobs in those fields.

64. A province with a first-rate education system, with a curriculum we can be proud of, that prepares students for life in the 21st century.

65. A public service where everyone is proud of the work we do and we are all making a wage you can raise a family with and enjoy a dignified retirement.

66. A health care system that gives everyone the care they need-when they need it.

67. A province that always works to reduce and eliminate racism and hatred. And promotes our cultural, religious and other differences as a strength.

68. I look forward to another year, working by your side, for the Alberta we all want. /THREAD