Red Deer Regional Hospital staff hold rally after negotiations with AHS stagnate

They’re rallying not only to return to negotiations but for better working conditions, improved wages, and the quality of care. They’re also concerned about Bill 55 proposed by the provincial government. The Bill, which was tabled on May 1, would privatize healthcare in the province if passed.

AUPE members at the Red Deer Regional Hospital consist of 1,500 general support services and approximately 700 health care aids and nurses. There are 136 classifications under general support services such as unit clerks, kitchen workers, and the staff who admit people into the emergency room.

If AHS and the union can’t come to an agreement, the members say they may want to look at implementing a strike. That’s only possible, however, if the two parties discuss an Essential Services Agreement, which is to ensure essential services continue during a strike.

Graham said what that may look like is patients may be eating off paper plates and people might be eating more cold meals. He noted non-essential surgeries could also be cancelled. After an Essential Services Agreement is completed, however, both sides must go to mediation.

He said it would not only be tough on the patients but also the hospital staff because they got into health care to help people.

Once an Essential Services Agreement is in place, a strike vote among the members would follow.

However, Graham accused their employer of putting up road blocks of getting in a formal mediator to help bring the parties together. He said it’s very frustrating.

“It’s the only legal way we have to show our discontent by enacting that Essential Services Agreement, reducing staffing levels even further, and essentially trying to push the government back to the table that way,” he said.

“It’s going to be chaos. It’s not something we’re looking forward to but this is why we’re very adamant about trying to get a deal negotiated at the table. But when your employer doesn’t want to talk to you, how can we negotiate that deal?”

Graham says the union doesn’t want to take that step but notes union members deserve true and honest negotiations. He says they want an employer that’s willing to listen to what they’re proposing and the issues they’re having at the hospital.

The AUPE says it hoped through formal mediation they were going to be able to do that but accused AHS of slowing that process down and not coming to an Essential Services Agreement.

Graham says AHS walked away from the bargaining table at the end of April and the AUPE hopes they can get them back sooner rather than later.

“If they came to us and talked and put forward a proposal such as the one the United Nurses of Alberta received, we want to have those discussions,” he said. “It’s not just about wages, it’s about working conditions, and care conditions for members of the public.”

In an emailed statement from Alberta Health Services, the organization said it is aware of the rally that was held outside the hospital and recognize it’s a staff right to participate in legal information pickets during non-working hours.

“AHS is committed to working through the collective bargaining process with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees,” as written in the statement. “Our goal throughout bargaining remains to reach fair agreements, which protect the important work our people do on the frontlines.”