28th Alberta Legislature

The Public Service Salary Restraint Act (informally referred to as Bill 46) is an Act of the Legislature of Alberta passed in 2013. The Bill was introduced in 2013 by Finance Minister Doug Horner. The bill passed first, second, and third readings and went into effect on December 11, 2013.[1] The law applies only to negotiations with the province's largest public-sector union, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE).

In February 2014 Court of Queen's Bench Justice Denny Thomas granted an indefinite injunction against the Bill saying "the legislation could irreparably harm labour relations, guts the collective bargaining process and effectively emasculates the AUPE".[2]

On April 28, 2014, details emerged of a deal reached between the Hancock government and the AUPE. The tentative agreement called for a lump-sum payment of $1,850 the first year followed by pay increases totalling 6.75 per cent over three years. Members of the AUPE will vote on the agreement in June 2014 before the government ratifies it.[3]

The deal was announced Monday, the same day the government dropped its appeal of an injunction the union won against legislation that would have imposed an austere contract similar to ones that went into effect last year for Alberta physicians and teachers.[3]

After the defections of 11 Wildrose MLA's, the Liberals and Wildrose were tied at 5 seats each, but the Speaker ruled that Wildrose would continue as the Official Opposition, a status that carries additional funding and privileges.[4]

• Alberta Legislative Assembly