The Challenge

Late in 2013, the Alberta government announced sweeping changes and cuts to public sector pension plans. The Alberta Federation of Labour, on behalf of the Alberta Labour Coalition on Pensions, contacted Stratcom to develop and deliver an event to thousands of union members across the province that would support its campaign to combat misinformation about the health of the public sector pension plans in Alberta.

The Solution

Working in a short time frame, Stratcom would support the AFL to create an event that would be informative for the thousands of public sector workers affected by the cuts to the public sector pension plan and answer any questions union members had.

Stratcom would provide strategic advice on the script and messaging, as well as project management for a live town hall event. The live event would be broadcast via Telephone Town Hall to 65,000 union members who could not make it in person. Presenters would include the president of the AFL, presidents of public sector workers unions and an actuarial expert to walk through the proposed cuts to the pension plan. Questions could be taken from the live audience and from those on the phones. The event would be hosted by a local radio performer and video recorded.

The Results

On January 21st, 2014, the Coalition held a successful and informative hybrid live and telephone town hall event on the proposed cuts. Over 100 attended in-person at MacEwan University and close to 8,000 participated by phone. The event educated and energized the coalition members to continue the fight against the cuts to the public sector pension plan.

As a result of this event and the broader, high-profile campaign lead by the coalition, the campaign was successful in fighting back the proposed cuts to the public sector pension plan. The Alberta Government ultimately backed down from the changes and referred the tabled policy back to a legislative committee.