Unions show little regard for taxpayers

Re: “Public union negotiations likely to be contentious with new right to strike,” Don Braid, Opinion, Feb. 3.

I couldn’t stop gagging from AUPE president Guy Smith’s incredibly selfish and arrogant comment on how increased wages to provincial union members give a muchneeded boost to our economy, because his members will spend their money in Alberta. Those comments just show how self-centred the union is. The money must come off the backs of every Albertan through taxes, and if our taxes were lower, we all would have more money to spend on our groceries.

And for federation of labour president Gil McGowan to even compare or comment that there are some sectors in the province doing well and getting wage increases, shows a lack of awareness that the government is not doing well, due to the significant increase to our debt.

Many years ago, my parents tried to encourage me to work for the government, because even though the wages were less, the job security was of great value. With the economy doing so well over the years, the unions’ argument was they needed higher wages to compete with the private sector.

What is their argument now? High wages, job security and an indexed pension is more than almost every other worker in the province receives, and needs to change. Greg Johnston, Calgary