In a world of political tumult, Alberta's NDP government has had an oasis of relative peace in its relationship with public service unions.

And that peace has endured for three and a half years despite wage freezes in the major contracts it has negotiated so far with teachers, nurses and front-line civil servants.

Premier Rachel Notley should tip her hat to the late Ralph Klein for his record on labour relations.  In the 1990s downturn Klein slashed budgets, reduced public service wages and jobs, cut services and even blew up a hospital in Calgary.  He delighted the fiscal hawks and made sure private sector workers knew they weren't the only ones hurting in tough times: public service workers felt the pain too.

The Klein years may seem far in the past to some, but they are fresh in the public service union memory.

So the NDP's tactic has been simple: guaranteed job security in return for wage freezes.

At the end of August the most recent tentative contract was inked with 23,000 AUPE front-line workers.  Although all the provisions won't be known until the end of the ratification vote, it is known that the deal, which covers the period from April 1, 2017 to March, 2020, includes a two year wage freeze and job security.

Nurses and teachers have signed similar deals.  Two more unions are still in negotiations, but will likely fall in line.

There is, of course, some chance that there will be a break in the pattern which would spell disaster for the current government.  The already inked deals have 'me too' clauses which ensure that if one of the public service unions does wrestle a pay raise out of the negotiations, everyone gets a pay hike.

The most recent AUPE deal also opens up salary talks again in January.  On top of that, teachers are back to the bargaining table because their initial deal was only two years.  The contract for 46,000 teachers expired Aug. 31.

But right now, the balance of jobs for frozen wages is holding.

The NDP platform from the get-go has hinged on the theory that cutting back public spending and imperilling public sector jobs during a downturn is a disastrous economic policy.  And during the energy slump of 2015 and 2016 the government continued public works to keep even more jobs from leaking out of the economy.

At party rallies, Notley praised Treasurer Joe Ceci for resisting cuts during the downturn.

"Joe resisted the urge to make a bad situation worse," said the premier.

Time is on the NDP's side in terms of the labour scene.  The next election is expected to be called in May.  The two-year wage freezes will be coming to an end for many civil servants but whatever hikes may be coming probably will not have been hammered out.

So healthcare workers, teachers, and civil servants will be voting with some hope that the recovering economy in the province (and higher inflation rates) could lead to their first raises in years if the NDP wins.  And the opposition won't yet have a solid wage hike number to beat the government with in terms of the huge sea of red ink on the government books.

And what about the opposition position?  If Jason Kenney's United Conservative Party wins, as current opinion polls indicate, will it slash the provincial budget in the interest of reducing the province's $53 billion in debt?  Will there be layoffs and wage rollbacks?

The UCP hasn't yet articulated its platform.  It has scoffed at NDP attack ads suggesting the real Kenney is a budget axe wielding bogeyman.

Way back last year when he was running for the leadership of the UCP, Kenney hinted what could be in the cards.

"And we will have to go through a period of sustained fiscal restraint.  That doesn't mean cutting 20 per cent of our budget, but it does mean learning from how B.C. and other provinces deliver the same services so much more efficiently," he said in September 2017.

Right-leaning pundits and the Canadian Taxpayers Federation aren't afraid to talk numbers.  The CTF would like a UCP government to cut the civil service by 10 per cent (but not teachers, nurses or doctors) and negotiate a 10 per cent wage cut.

That would pretty obviously be the end of labour peace.

Photo Credit: Calgary Herald