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McGowan’s comments came a day after Redford’s government used its majority and its right to invoke a limit on debate to pass two bills less than a week after they were introduced without warning in the legislature.

Bill 46 strips away the right of binding arbitration for Alberta’s largest public-sector union, the 22,000-member Alberta Union of Provincial Employees. The bill also imposes a four-year contract with frozen wages in the first two years, followed by one per cent hikes in each of the following two.

The bill returns the right of arbitration after this contract is settled and stipulates the imposed deal only kicks in if both sides can’t reach an agreement by Jan. 31.

Redford has urged AUPE president Guy Smith to come back to the bargaining table. She said the process went off the rails after the union filed for arbitration and Smith walked away from negotiations.

Smith had warned the AUPE would not negotiate if the bill passed.

Provincial law prevents the AUPE from striking, so former Tory premier Peter Lougheed gave the union the right to binding arbitration in 1977.

Redford suggested to reporters this week she does not feel bound by that commitment. She said despite Alberta’s roaring economy, funding infrastructure and services is straining the bottom line, making it imperative the government hold the line on salaries.

The second of the controversial laws, Bill 45, introduces steep six-figure fines on unions that engage in illegal strikes or even speak publicly about such a walkout.

The government said this is in response to a wildcat walkout of prison guards and other security staff in April, which forced the province to scramble to keep prisons safe and courthouses operating.

McGowan said both bills violate Charter freedoms of speech and association and will be challenged in court.