Adam Lachacz
Saturday, September 4, 2021
EDMONTON -- The union representing nurses says Alberta Health Services (AHS) informed them it will “immediately” begin filling staffing shortages by hiring contract nurses from three agencies across Canada.
In a statement on Saturday, United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) disclosed it received an email notifying them that “AHS will use contracted resources to address short-term contracting issues” as the hospital system deals with surges in patients due to the fourth wave of COVID-19.
According to the UNA, the three nursing agencies are Toronto-based Greenstaff Medical Canada, Northern Nursing Solutions from Airdrie, Alta., and Vancouver’s Brylu Staffing.
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AHS also told the union it was withdrawing a previous labour relations board complaint against the UNA where the health care authority alleged the union participated in bargaining in bad faith by making public statements that AHS was in talks with Greenstaff.
According to the email UNA received, AHS said the nurses’ collective agreement permits the use of contract nurses and is the health care authority’s “current practice.”
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AHS told the UNA it would disclose when a contract with any of the agencies was reached. The UNA says it has not received information from AHS about what staffing agencies will pay nurses.
“UNA nurses have not received any pay increases for the past five years and will continue to press the employer in negotiations to being to take negotiations seriously for Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses, and to address the chronic staffing crisis faced by Alberta health care facilities,” the UNA said.
In August, the UNA said Greenstaff Medical offered to pay nurses it employs to work at AHS facilities $55 an hour for general acute care and up to $75 an hour for ICU and emergency department shifts, as well as weekend premiums, a housing allowance, and shift differentials. Union member nurses working for AHS are currently paid between $36.86 and $48.37 per hour.
'SIGNIFICANT' CAPACITY ISSUES: AHS
Kerry Williamson, AHS spokesperson told CTV News Edmonton in a statement, that Alberta is facing "significant" capacity issues, particularly in ICUs.
"We are doing all we can to open additional capacity, however our biggest challenge right now is finding available healthcare workers to staff those surge beds," Williamson said. "This critical staffing challenge is limiting our ability to open additional beds, which in turn is placing strain on our ability to care for patients.
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"In order to alleviate this staffing challenge, AHS is again working with contract staff supplied by staffing agencies, as a last resort to prevent further disruption of services and patient care."
Williamson added that there are no specifics about the use of third-party nurses as conversations with the agencies have just begun.
Registered nurse Linda Wright attends to a patient in the COVID-19 Intensive Care Unit at Surrey Memorial Hospital in Surrey, B.C., Friday, June 4, 2021.
By Radana Williams Global News
Posted September 4, 2021
The United Nurses of Alberta says the province is hiring contract nurses to address severe staffing shortages in hospitals.
The UNA says it received an email from Alberta Health Services’ lead negotiator Kim LeBlanc Friday, notifying the union that “as is our current practice and allowed by the collective agreement, AHS will use contracted resources to address short-term contracting issues” during the fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In the letter, AHS says it will immediately begin working with three staffing agencies: Toronto-based Greenstaff Medical Canada, Northern Nursing Solutions of Airdrie and Brylu Staffing of Vancouver.
As a result, the UNA says AHS is withdrawing its Aug. 16 Labour Relations Board complaint against the association.
READ MORE: Alberta nurses’ union seeks formal mediation, ‘one step closer to potential job action’
AHS alleged in the complaint the union bargained in bad faith by making public statements that AHS was in discussions with Greenstaff Medical Canada and other third-party recruiters to hire registered nurses to work in Alberta at rates significantly higher than those paid under the UNA collective agreement.
A bargaining update published by UNA on Aug. 13 made specific references to pay rates included in postings by Greenstaff Medical Canada.
UNA’s director of labour relations David Harrigan says the email did not indicate the rates AHS expects to pay the staffing agencies for contract nurses, but it’s likely to be significantly more than nurses currently make.
“If you’re a nurse who’s been working 16 hours a day for the past 16 months, and the employer is saying you’re not good enough and I’m cutting your pay, to hear that they’re now bringing in agency nurses, who will earn anywhere from $55 to $75 an hour, which is like $25 more than the top RN makes, there is just no better way for this government to say we have absolutely no respect for nurses,” Harrigan said.
READ MORE: Alberta COVID-19 modelling projects province could see up to 300 ICU admissions this month
AHS confirmed it’s hiring contract nurses because it’s experiencing significant capacity issues, particularly in intensive care units, which are at 95 per cent capacity.
“We are doing all we can to open additional capacity, however, our biggest challenge right now is finding available health-care workers to staff those surge beds,” said AHS spokesperson Kerry Williamson.
“This critical staffing challenge is limiting our ability to open additional beds, which in turn is placing strain on our ability to care for patients.”
Williamson added this is permissible under the existing collective agreement.
The UNA says nurses have not received any pay increases for the past five years. The union is currently in contract negotiations with the province and is seeking formal mediation.
© 2021 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
Calgary
Alberta to bring in out-of-province contract nurses as COVID-19 patients fill hospitals
Province's intensive care units were 95 per cent full on Friday as 4th wave surges
Alberta is working with out-of-province staffing agencies to bring in contract nurses, as hospitals contend with staff shortages and full beds due to the surging fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The United Nurses of Alberta (UNA), the union representing more than 30,000 nurses in the province, says it was notified on Friday by Alberta Health Services (AHS) that the province plans to immediately bring in contractors to address staffing shortages.
AHS is working with Toronto-based Greenstaff Medical Canada, Vancouver's Brylu Staffing and Northern Nursing Solutions of Airdrie, Alta., the nurses' union said in a news release.
As of Friday, 515 COVID-19 patients were in Alberta hospitals, including 118 in intensive care beds. More than 20 municipalities across the province had reductions in acute care beds, many due to staffing shortages.
The province's ICUs were at 95 per cent capacity, and as many as 60 per cent of scheduled surgeries were being postponed in some areas.
AHS said the move to hire contract nurses from staffing agencies is a "last resort."
"We are doing all we can to open additional capacity. However, our biggest challenge right now is finding available health-care workers to staff those surge beds," AHS confirmed in an emailed statement. "This critical staffing challenge is limiting our ability to open additional beds, which in turn is placing strain on our ability to care for patients."
Provincial modelling has suggested that up to 700 people could be in hospital with COVID-19 by the end of this month.
"This is a last resort, as our local supply of nurses is close to being exhausted," AHS said.
Nurses are exhausted, union says
Two weeks ago, AHS invoked emergency work rules for nurses, which could force them to work mandatory overtime or cancel time off to address staffing gaps.
David Harrigan, UNA's director of labour relations, said nurses are exhausted.
"It's not unusual to have [hospitals] over capacity and understaffed. You know, in some ways I can see why AHS has to bring in contractors because it is a real crisis," he told CBC News. "But the answer is to sit down and say ... how can we retain employees instead of abusing current employees?"
AHS is also withdrawing a labour relations board complaint it had made against the UNA, the union said. The complaint alleged that the union was bargaining in bad faith by publicly stating that AHS was discussing hiring registered nurses with third-party recruiters at higher rates than those paid under the collective agreement.
"They publicly accused UNA of being dishonest, because we said that they were in discussions with contract nurses. And then on Friday ... they wrote to us that, in fact, they are in discussions," Harrigan said.
A job posting from Greenstaff Medical Canada on Indeed.com, posted one month ago, said it was urgently hiring for casual RN positions in Edmonton, with wages starting at $75 per hour. The top rate an RN can make in Alberta right now is $48 per hour.
"Nurses have been working 16 hours a day, overworked, for 16 months. Their employer is saying to them, 'Thanks a lot. By the way, we're going to cut your wages.' And now they turn around and bring in people that they will pay $55 to $75 an hour," Harrigan said. "There's just no better way to show the public and the nurses that they have zero respect for health care."
The UNA said that AHS has now committed to disclosing when it reaches a contract with any staffing agencies but that it has not said what rate it expects to pay the contract nurses.
The union is currently calling for a two per cent wage increase, saying nurses haven't received a raise in five years; AHS has proposed a three per cent salary rollback.
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