Tuesday, March 15, 2022

CLASS WAR
Alberta government seeking 11 per cent wage cuts for some health-care workers

Janet French 
   
© Chris Beauchamp for Alberta Health Services Huan Zhang, a respiratory therapist at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Grande Prairie, Alta., receives the COVID-19 vaccine during the pandemic. Respiratory therapists are among Health Sciences Association of…

Alberta Health Services is seeking "insulting" wage cuts from front-line workers who were most pivotal in responding to COVID-19, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta says.

"Given all that our members have worked through in the last two years in particular, through the pandemic — [it's] very insulting and discouraging," said Leanne Alfaro, HSAA vice-president.

The union, which represents respiratory therapists, social workers, speech language pathologists and other health-care workers, says there is a huge gap between its and the government's opening bargaining positions.

About 20,000 union members have been without a contract since March 31, 2020. Bargaining was delayed by the pandemic and began last October.

HSAA wants four years of wage increases, to help account for inflation: 2.6 per cent the first year, 4.2 per cent the second year, 4.7 per cent in the third year and around 3.7 per cent in the fourth year, Alfaro said.


Members haven't had new wage increases since 2016.

The union says AHS is proposing three years of a frozen wage grid and a one per cent increase across the board in 2023.

But they're also seeking job-specific cuts for 57 per cent of the workers, including nearly 11 per cent rollbacks for social workers and pharmacy technicians. HSAA said the proposal includes an 8.7 per cent cut for speech language pathologists and 8.1 per cent slash for respiratory therapists.


Proposed Alberta Health Services rollbacks

Neither the government nor AHS would confirm the numbers. The finance minister's office won't say how much money such rollbacks would save.

"AHS respects the bargaining process and will not bargain in public or share details of bargaining while it is underway," AHS spokesperson Kerry Williamson said in an email.

In the legislature during question period, Health Minister Jason Copping said the parties' positions are only a starting point. He pointed to an agreement struck last year with the United Nurses of Alberta, in which the government initially sought pay cuts. Nurses wound up with wage increases.

Copping said the United Conservative Party government is investing in the health-care system.

"We are focused on increasing our staff," he said. "We are focused on increasing our investment in health care, and we'll deliver."

Alfaro said the government's rationale for wage cuts is to bring salaries for some professionals in line with colleagues in some other provinces.

She said Alberta is competing globally for some of these professionals and reducing their salaries could exacerbate staff shortages.

NDP mental health and addictions critic Lori Sigurdson said it's foolhardy to cut social workers' pay in the midst of a deadly opioid poisoning crisis, while homelessness grows and workers are handling higher case loads due to program cuts.

"It's demoralizing for front-line staff, so certainly, many are stepping away," she said.

NDP health critic David Shepherd said the proposed wage cuts are counterintuitive for a government that has promised to expand the capacity of the health-care system.

"This is a brutal insult to all Albertans who have put themselves in harm's way throughout this pandemic and who have been working to protect Albertans throughout their entire careers," Shepherd said.

AHS proposing significant pay cuts for social workers as part of contract negotiations

Ashley Joannou 
© Provided by Edmonton Journal The Alberta Health Services building located on Southport Rd. S.W. in Calgary on Feb. 24, 2021.

Alberta Health Services is proposing wage cuts to a dozen professions, including a more than 10 per cent rollback for social workers and pharmacy technicians, as part of its opening bid in contract negotiations with the Health Sciences Association of Alberta.

The health authority is suggesting wage cuts for about 57 per cent of the union’s members covering jobs that also include occupational therapists, respiratory therapists, speech language pathologists and pharmacists.

The chairwoman of the union’s bargaining committee, Leanne Alfaro, said members are feeling disappointed and disrespected by the offer and it won’t be accepted.

“Our members’ mandate has not changed. That was no rollbacks, no concessions, job security, and also to increase workplace health and safety and wellness for our members,” she told Postmedia Monday.

AHS’s collective agreement with HSAA expired at the end of March 2020 and the two sides began collective bargaining in October 2021 after agreeing to hit pause as a result of the pandemic.

Union seeking wage increases


While AHS is proposing rollbacks targeting specific professions, HSAA’s opening offer calls for increases for all members across the board.

Along with cost of living increases, the union is asking for a 1.5 per cent wage increase for members in 2020 followed by a one per cent increase for the three years after that, Alfaro said.

In the legislature Monday, Health Minister Jason Copping said HSAA’s proposal amounts to a 15 per cent increase over four years.

“These are opening positions. I am hopeful that the parties will be able to negotiate through this and reach a fair agreement,” he said.

Alfaro said AHS is arguing that Alberta wages need to be brought in line with pay found in Ontario. But she says almost all jobs across the province have higher wages than in other jurisdictions.

“So we’re not sure why health care would need to be targeted specifically. Particularly after we’re still not out of the pandemic and we’ve been providing vital care for Albertans for over the last two years,” she said.
‘A brutal insult:’ NDP

The Official Opposition took a swing at the government Monday for proposing wage cuts for health-care workers at a time when Finance Minister Travis Toews has approved potential wage increases of between three and 39 per cent for employees of the Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo).

“This is a brutal insult to all Albertans who have put themselves in harm’s way throughout this pandemic and who’ve been working to protect their fellow Albertans for their entire career. Respiratory therapists, paramedics, lab technicians, so many others, they are heroes and their work isn’t done,” NDP health critic David Shepherd said Monday.

“They continue to step up under significant pressure to support the health and save the lives of Albertans as we recover from the COVID 19 pandemic but the UCP wants to slash their wages at the same time as they want to hand massive raises to executives at AIMCo. I don’t think that’s going to pass the smell test for any Albertans.”
© File photo NDP Health Critic David Shepherd during a news conference in Edmonton on Dec. 13, 2021.

Lori Sigurdson, NDP critic for mental health and addictions, said she was particularly concerned about the proposed cuts to social workers’ wages.

“We’re in the midst of a substance use and mental health crisis in Alberta. The UCP claims to be concerned about this and yet they want to roll back the wages and the pay of Albertans struggling on the frontlines in this crisis,” she said.

HSAA and AHS are set to return to the bargaining table at the end of March.

The full list of proposed wage rollbacks is:
Pharmacy technician — 10.93 per cent
Social worker — 10.90 per cent
Diagnostic sonographer — 1.87 per cent
Dietician — 0.88 per cent
Advanced care paramedic — 0.28 per cent
Health information management professional — 7.49 per cent
Occupational therapist — 5.39 per cent
Pharmacist — 5.10 per cent
Physiotherapist — 2.33 per cent
Respiratory therapist — 8.05 per cent
Speech language pathologist — 8.69 per cent
Therapy assistant — 2.35 per cent


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