Alberta unions launch campaign to “Stand up to Kenney”

EDMONTON – Today, Alberta unions launched www.StandUpToKenney.ca, a campaign to unite all Albertans to defend our province from a government with a tin ear, a cold heart and an agenda that is shockingly regressive, disturbingly ideological and the very opposite of what’s needed during these difficult times.

“The UCP has picked fights with an unprecedented number of Alberta groups and individual Albertans, regardless of their political stripe. They’ve also launched attacks on many things that Albertans hold dear,” says Gil McGowan, president, Alberta Federation of Labour.

“So, it’s not Kenney against unions. And it’s not Kenney against the NDP. Instead, it’s Kenney against health care; Kenney against education; Kenney against parks, AISH, and the environment. It’s even Kenney against a responsible response to COVID-19.”

This new campaign will ask all Albertans – union and non-union, working or not – to do three things.

First, it asks Albertans who are alarmed by the Kenney government’s agenda to visit the campaign website at www.StandUpToKenney.ca and take the “I’m Ready to Stand Up to Kenney” pledge.

By taking the pledge, people will be indicating that they’re ready to take part in province-wide protest actions.

These protest actions WILL include rallies and demonstrations – both in-person and on-line – and they MAY include work-related protests like one-day, province-wide general strikes.

Second, once enough Albertans have taken the pledge and joined the campaign, the AFL will help create a coordinating committee of allies, both labour and non-labour. That committee will finalize a list of demands and they will then attempt to sit down with the Kenney government to negotiate.

Third, if the government doesn’t respond or negotiate, the campaign will begin a series of virtual, regional and province-wide protests.

To be clear, mass, in-person protest action will NOT begin until it can be done safely in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. But, the AFL is urging people to sign up NOW so those supporting and participating in the campaign are ready to move quickly once it’s safe to do so.

“The Kenney government has, in essence, launched a war on Alberta. We think it’s time for Albertans who are alarmed by this fact to start preparing themselves to fight back,” concludes McGowan.

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MEDIA CONTACT:
Ramona Franson
Director of Communications, AFL
rfranson@afl.org