BULLSHIT

Offer to health support workers 'fair, reasonable' in light of fiscal problems, finance minister says

FIRST THEY CONTRACT OUT THEIR JOBS THEN CUT THEIR WAGES
AUPE says government negotiators want 4 per cent pay cut

Michelle Bellefontaine · CBC News · Posted: Jul 16, 2021

 
UNA and AUPE members protested possible health care cuts and privatization at rallies across Alberta last year. (Trevor Wilson/CBC)


Alberta Finance Minster Travis Toews is defending his government's offer to health care support workers as fair and reasonable, while the union calls it disrespectful to the people who have kept hospitals functioning during the pandemic.


The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees said Alberta Health Services negotiators have tabled an offer of a four per cent wage rollback for one year, followed by three years of zero increases in the latest round of contract talks.

Toews says AUPE was asking for a five per cent increase in salaries over the next two years, which he said is an increase of $105 million. He said Alberta can't afford wage increases while it faces down $93 billion in debt. 

Alberta finance minister pushes salary rollback for nurses

"Our proposal is fair, reasonable, and in the best interest of all Albertans," Toews said in a news release Friday.

"AHS is offering job security to employees in exchange for the one-time wage reduction. This is a fair and equitable trade."

AUPE vice-president Susan Slade said the offer is disrespectful to the cleaning, laundry and food services staff who kept hospitals functioning during the pandemic. She said workers in the General Support Services unit are among the lowest paid health care workers.

"It's absolutely shameful that this government thinks that this is an appropriate thing to do after given the amount of hard work that everybody has done this last 16 months in this pandemic," Slade said in an interview with CBC News.

"Members are rightfully angry. They're disappointed."

The government's latest offer to AUPE comes less than two weeks after government negotiators tabled an offer to Alberta nurses that would force them to take a three per cent salary rollback.

NDP health critic David Shepherd said Premier Jason Kenney is trying to balance his budget on the back of health care workers. The Edmonton-Centre MLA said Kenney has spent millions on the Canadian Energy Centre, commonly known as the war room, and lost $1.3 billion of taxpayer money in the cancelled Keystone XL project.

"The premier has many, many areas where he has chosen to gamble and waste Alberta's tax dollars," Shepherd said.

"For him then to turn to our frontline health care workers who got us through this pandemic and say, you are going to pay for my mistakes and to try to attack and vilify them. It's unacceptable."

Emergency rooms and hospitals across the province are facing bed closures due to staffing shortages.

Alberta Health Services confirmed that 18 spaces at the Royal Alexandra Hospital emergency department were closed for four hours early Friday morning.

Twelve beds reopened at 7 a.m., leaving six beds closed due to "short-term staffing coverage issues," the health authority said via its Twitter account.

At an unrelated news conference earlier on Friday, Health Minister Tyler Shandro said Alberta's situation isn't any different from the pressures faced by health care systems in Canada and across the world due to COVID-19.

Toews calls proposed cuts to health-care workers' salaries 'reasonable'
Author of the article:Ashley Joannou
Publishing date:Jul 16, 2021 • 

Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews delivers the 2021 provincial budget at the Alberta legislature in Edmonton on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. 

PHOTO BY DAVID BLOOM /Postmedia


Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews is defending a proposal to cut the salaries of health-care staff, including cleaning, laundry and lab workers, saying it is reasonable and in the best interest of Albertans.

On Thursday, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) said the government was proposing a four per cent wage cut for its general support services workers effective immediately after a new agreement is ratified, followed by a three-year wage freeze.

In a statement Friday, Toews said the government has to keep spending under control when the province is facing $93 billion in debt. He said Albertans pay more than most Canadians for public services including health care.

“Our proposal is fair, reasonable, and in the best interest of all Albertans. AHS is offering job security to employees in exchange for the one-time wage reduction. This is a fair and equitable trade,” he said.

“AHS is meeting with AUPE later today to continue negotiations. I’m confident both parties can work together to reach a fair and equitable settlement that respects the fiscal situation of the province.”

AUPE vice-president Susan Slade confirmed in an interview Friday that the union’s current proposal would maintain the status quo during Year 1 followed by a 2.5 per cent salary increase in each of years 2 and 3.

AHS initially proposed a one-per cent cut in February 2020 but contract talks were stalled amid the pandemic.

Slade the one per cent cut would have taken back an increase received through arbitration and that there have been very little increases in these employees’ salaries the last five years.

“I think given the fact that these employees have been working for the last 16 months in horrible conditions given the pandemic, him asking for a four per cent decrease is extremely shameful, disrespectful and unreasonable,” she said.

The government’s latest offer to AUPE comes after negotiators offered Alberta nurses a three per cent salary rollback as part of their latest round of contract talks.

Toews said the United Nurses of Alberta want a four per cent raise over two years.

At a press conference Friday, NDP health critic David Shepherd said the burnout and low morale staff are feeling from COVID-19 is being worsened by the suggestion of wage rollbacks.

Shepherd said that if the province wanted to save money it could choose not to fund the government’s energy war room or could have decided not to spend $1.3 billion on the now-cancelled Keystone XL pipeline.

He said the government needs to recognize the pressure health-care workers are facing and “start negotiating respectfully and bring forward a plan to address critical staffing shortages.”

The province continues to face bed closures due to staffing shortages at both rural and urban hospitals.

AHS said six of 50 emergency room beds are temporarily closed due to staffing issues at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. Another 12 were closed for four hours Friday morning. Those 12 reopened at 7 a.m.

At an unrelated event on Friday, Health Minister Tyler Shandro said similar pressures are being faced by health-care systems in Canada and across the world because of COVID-19.

“AHS has done an amazing job for a year and a half, they continue to do it, to make sure that people are going to get the care that they need,” he said.

“Sometimes that means making dynamic decisions and responding to pressures on human resources or equipment issues because they’re doing the right things to make sure that people are getting the care that they need.”

ajoannou@postmedia.com

twitter.com/ashleyjoannou

Alberta health staff return to work, surgeries resume after one-day walkout

EDMONTON — Hospital and health-care workers who staged a one-day illegal walkout returned to work Tuesday while politicians swapped recriminations and accusations in the house over the dispute.

Alberta Health Services reported no service disruptions and a return to scheduled surgeries one day after hundreds of workers, including aides and support staff, walked off the job at about 30 sites throughout the province, including hospitals in Edmonton and Calgary.

Late Monday night, the Alberta Labour Relations Board ruled the job action illegal and the workers’ union, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, said it would urge staffers to return to work.

They had walked out to protest plans announced earlier this month by the United Conservative government to eliminate 11,000 jobs and privatize more lab and laundry services to save money. Health Minister Tyler Shandro had said nursing and other front-line clinical staff would not be affected.

The AUPE represents about 58,000 health care workers.

AHS estimated 157 non-emergency surgeries, most of them in Edmonton, had to be postponed as a result of the walkout. That is on top of the elective surgeries postponed in Edmonton last week due to strain on the system caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the legislature, the Opposition NDP critic Janis Irwin accused Shandro of shabbily treating critical front-line workers.

“These folks put their lives on the line to serve Albertans, and they deserve our respect and dignity, not your government’s constant attacks,” Irwin told the house during question period.

“What message do you have for these dedicated workers?”

Shandro replied, “This is pure hypocrisy from the NDP.

“We are doing what exactly the NDP did. They had 68 per cent of laundry jobs throughout the province contracted out in Calgary and Edmonton. BULLSHIT THAT WAS DONE BY THE PREVIOUS UCP GOVERNMENT WHEN IT WAS THE PC PARTY UNDER KLEIN

“The NDP are not fighting for patients. They’re not fighting for the workers either. They’re fighting for the six-figure salaries of their union bosses.”

NDP Leader Rachel Notley said her party did not initiate any privatization of those health services during its previous four years in government.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 27, 2020.

Alberta health-care workers could face sanctions for wildcat strike
Janet French CBC

© Scott Neufeld/CBC Alberta Finance Minister Travis Toews said Alberta Health Services will investigate workers who participated in a wildcat strike on Monday.

Alberta Health Services (AHS) is considering "disciplinary options" for unionized health-care workers who walked off the job earlier this week.

Nursing and support workers who participated in Monday's wildcat strike could be fined, suspended or even fired from their jobs, Finance Minister Travis Toews told reporters at the legislature on Tuesday. 

"They're looking at individual employee actions, individual employees who took part in the illegal walkout," Toews said

Next steps could include reporting any regulated workers to disciplinary bodies for professional sanctions, he said.

Working conditions and the Alberta government's move to outsource up to 11,000 jobs prompted the job action.

On Monday night, the Alberta Labour Relations Board declared the workers' walkout to be an illegal strike.

Although the board cited no wrongdoing by their union, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), Toews said AHS will ask the board to investigate whether union leaders were involved in organizing the strike.

"Just from information in the public realm, it would appear that union leaders were instrumental, or certainly there was a high degree of possibility that union leaders were instrumental in the activities," Toews said.

Although he wouldn't point to specific evidence, Toews said social media posts, news reports and information received by his office suggest leaders were involved in organizing the walkout.

AUPE issued a short statement Tuesday, saying leaders can't comment on AHS's labour board complaint. Moves to investigate individual employees may prompt the union to file grievances against the employer, the statement said.

On Monday, AUPE President Guy Smith said the walkout was led by workers, not union officials.

"We know that your employer's going to react very strongly to what you're up to today," Smith said over a megaphone Monday to workers rallying outside Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital. "They're going to try and bully you and intimidate you to not be out here. If you stick together and stay strong, nothing can overcome the power of workers standing together — remember that."
Opposition calls move a 'witch hunt'

AHS said the organization is reviewing Monday's events and considering next steps including possible disciplinary options and consequences.

"That process could take some time to ensure we complete a thorough review and investigation," spokesperson Kerry Williamson said in an email.

He did not say how many workers AHS was investigating or how long it would take.

© Scott Neufeld/CBC Alberta NDP leader Rachel Notley said the government should be trying to reach a truce with health-care workers rather than investigating them for potential wrongdoing.

Opposition NDP leader Rachel Notley said the move is a continuation of the UCP government's attack on health-care workers.

"If the finance minister insists upon engaging in a witch hunt against regular, hard-working frontline workers in the middle of a pandemic it will show us that they have learned nothing from yesterday," Notley said on Tuesday. "What they must absolutely do is declare a truce."

The government has said outsourcing up to 11,000 health-care jobs such as cleaners, laundry and food service workers, porters and others could save up to $600 million a year. Two-thirds of health-care centre laundry across the province is already handled by private contractors.

The NDP disputes the estimated cost savings of outsourcing. Notley said the government expects low-wage health-care workers, many of whom are women of colour, to cheerfully report to high-risk jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic while waiting for pink slips.

"On what planet does this look even a little bit like basic common sense and humanity?" Notley said.

AHS workers' wildcat strike declared illegal by Alberta Labour Relations Board

Ashley Joannou , Anna Junker EDMONTON JOURNAL

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Waving to passing motorists, health-care workers walked off the the job outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital joining others at various health care locations across Alberta on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.

The Alberta Labour Relations Board has ruled that health-care workers who walked off the job Monday were engaged in an illegal strike.

In the decision released Monday night, the board said the workers must return to work at their scheduled shifts.

The orders from the board will be filed with the Court of Queen’s Bench, meaning anyone who breaks them could face civil or criminal penalties.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which represents the workers, said healthcare workers would return to work on Tuesday.

“AUPE members won support from across Alberta for their heroic stand, and proved once and for all that healthcare staff is more than doctors and nurses,” the union said in a statement late Monday.

In a statement issued following the decision, Finance Minister Travis Toews said he was pleased by the decision.

“Albertans should be able to rely on their health-care system with services delivered uninterrupted — no matter the circumstance,” he said.

“Going forward we expect that all unions respect the bargaining process and stop putting Albertans’ safety at risk. We will not tolerate illegal strike activity.”

General support health-care workers, licensed practical nurses and health-care aides across Alberta went on a wildcat strike Monday morning to call on the government to hire more staff and reverse the decision announced by Health Minister Tyler Shandro earlier this month to cut 11,000 jobs, including laundry services and lab work, mostly through outsourcing to third-party companies.

A wildcat strike is action taken by unionized workers without authorization from union leadership.

In a morning statement, Alberta Health Services (AHS) called the job action illegal. At a 4 p.m. emergency hearing, AHS formally asked the ALRB to direct employees back to work.

Arguments at the hearing centred around how big the walkout actually was and whether the AUPE was involved as an organization and could be held accountable.

AHS lawyers argued that the union was “reckless” for engaging in this type of behaviour during a pandemic and asked that the action be declared unlawful, the union and its members be ordered to cease and desist and the union make “every reasonable effort” to bring the strike to a close.

For AUPE’s part, the lawyer representing the union argued that while some members were not at work when they should have been, there was limited evidence that AUPE as an entity was involved and weak evidence around exactly how many employees were scheduled to work and were instead picketing.

In the final decision, the cease and desist order was made against the employees without mentioning the union.

Health-care workers have walked off the job this morning. A sizeable group is outside the Royal Alex and getting lots of honks of support from passing vehicles #yeg #ableg #abhealtb #abpoli pic.twitter.com/aADq08jdMi— Anna Junker 🔮 (@JunkerAnna) October 26, 2020
‘We’re not going to stand for being ripped apart and discarded, like Kleenex’

Speaking outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital on Monday morning, AUPE president Guy Smith said the strike was grassroots and spontaneous.

“The anger and the frustration that’s been building up for over a year was really set to light by that (job cuts announcement) two weeks ago,” said Smith.

The AUPE represents about 58,000 health-care workers, although it was not known exactly how many walked off the job or picketed.

Workers went on strike at the Royal Alexandra Hospital, the University of Alberta Hospital, Glenrose Hospital and Alberta Hospital in Edmonton, Foothills Hospital, South Health Campus and Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary, Red Deer Regional Hospital, and in Athabasca, Westlock, Lethbridge, Whitecourt, Cold Lake, Peace River, Leduc, Westview and Fort Saskatchewan.

By Monday afternoon, the crowd outside the Royal Alexandra had swelled to a few hundred, including representatives of other health-care and non-health-care unions.

The Health Sciences Association of Alberta, which represents 27,000 health-care professionals, and the United Nurses of Alberta had said in separate statements that their members wouldn’t do the work of other union members. The Alberta Federation of Labour and its affiliated unions said they would join picket lines to show support.

Heather Smith, president of the UNA, said there has been “extreme unhappiness” within the health-care system for a long time.

“You can’t continue to beat people and expect that they’re just going to take it,” she said.

“It’s time this government recognize that we are a family of providers, and we don’t like being ripped apart, we’re not going to stand for being ripped apart and discarded, like Kleenex, we are not disposable as a workforce.”

Colleen Buzikevich, an environmental service worker who does housekeeping at the Royal Alexandra and was picketing outside the hospital Monday morning, said hearing about the job cuts was devastating.

“It was it was like a hot knife right through the heart,” Buzikevich said. “We’re fighting for our livelihood. We have families to support, we have spouses, people have kids. It’s that’s how you pay for food on your table and that’s being taken away from us. It feels like the rug is being pulled out from under us.”

By 8:30 p.m., just before the decision was released, picketers had left the Royal Alexandra and U of A hospitals.

© Ed Kaiser An ambulance on a call passes health-care workers who have walked off the the job outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital joining others at various health care locations across Alberta on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020. Ed Kaiser/Postmedia

Non-emergency surgeries postponed across the province

Earlier in the day, AHS said it was taking steps to address interruptions to patient care, including redeploying non-union staff wherever possible.

As a result of the job action, AHS spokesperson Kerry Williamson said non-emergency surgeries had been postponed across the province. The procedures were halted in the Edmonton Zone last week due to capacity issues because of COVID-19

.

© Ed Kaiser Health-care workers walked off the the job outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital joining others at various health care locations across Alberta on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.

NDP Opposition Leader Rachel Notley called the strike action “deeply concerning” and said the province’s plan to privatize jobs will result in poorer health care.

“The UCP must stop this deliberate attack on public health care and get back to the table with frontline health-care heroes,” Notley said in a statement.

Smith said he’s had working relationships with previous premiers, but with Premier Jason Kenney there is “no relationship.”

“The fact that we haven’t been able to have that, build that relationship with this government, means that it could be harder to get to those discussion points,” Smith said. “We know we’re going to be at loggerheads, but we’re at a crisis point right now and we’re willing to help resolve that if the government is.”

With files from Lisa Johnson and The Canadian Press

© Anna Junker AUPE health-care workers walk off the job and picket outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020

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© Anna Junker AUPE president Guy Smith addresses media after AUPE health-care workers walk off the job and picket outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.

© Anna Junker AUPE health-care workers walk off the job and picket outside the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton on Monday, Oct. 26, 2020.

AUPE, provincial government reach tentative deal



Wed., October 13, 2021


After months of what the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) referred to as intense negotiations, a mediated settlement has been reached with the provincial government.

AUPE represents 22,000 Government of Alberta employees like corrections workers, social workers and parks employees.

The groups have been in mediation since March after talks broke down.

"To be perfectly frank, I didn't think we would get to this point," Guy Smith, AUPE president, said.

"The government as an employer, in our opinion, was bound and determined to gain a number of concessions out of our members," Smith said.

The concessions the government wanted included a salary rollback, reductions in overtime pay, as well as reductions in benefits, among other things. According to an AUPE news release, these concessions are no longer on the table.

Here are some things the membership are voting on in the coming weeks, according to an AUPE news release:

1.25 per cent salary increase effective January 1, 2023.

Minimum 1.5 per cent salary increase with potential for additional 0.5 per cent increase based on economic factors effective September 1, 2023.

According to Smith, there had been steps taken to prepare for job action if necessary, including training hundreds of picket captains.

"We put all those processes in place and until we know this is a done deal, we will continue to [do so]," he said.

"I think the government saw our resolve. Obviously, we didn't want to be on picket lines, nobody does. We were determined to be prepared for it."

Union members still have to vote on the deal. The bargaining committee is recommending that members vote in favour of ratification.

Finance Minister Travis Toews said he is glad the agreement could bring labour stability for the public service.

"I respect the hard work and dedication of Alberta's Public Service employees and look forward to the results of the ratification vote," Toews said in an emailed statement.

Details of the agreement will be sent out through the mail, and due to COVID-19, Smith says they will also use a mail-in ballot system for the vote. He anticipated they will know the results in mid-December.

Smith said he hoped this signals a shift in the government's approach to other negotiations as well.

There are negotiations happening right now that include workers in healthcare and post secondary institutions as well as a number of other groups.

"There is some thought that this proposed settlement may have an impact on those tables as well because we're seeing concessions across the board at those tables," Smith said.

"We're hoping that this does reflect improved negotiations in those other areas as well."

The AUPE will be holding virtual town hall meetings for members who may have questions or concerns about the agreement. Those are expected to be held in November.

Whats The Buzz?

Apostles;
What's the buzz
Tell me what's a-happening
Jesus Christ Superstar


Well Buzz Hargrove is at it again, with his own politics of Stratgic Voting. This morning he was interviewed on CBC and was supporting the NDP. This afternoon he introduced Paul Martin to CAW delegates and was supporting the NDP in a Liberal Minority Government. His whole fixation is anybody but Harper. Which means as Buzz puts it a Liberal Minority Government and a strong NDP opposition. Now this could be dismissed as RealPolitick, since Buzz is concerned about Southern Ontario and his Autoworkers.

Union head praises Martin

Liberal Leader Paul Martin tried to poach some union votes Friday -- and received a limited endorsement.

Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers Union, gave Mr. Martin a warm introduction to his union's leadership conference in Toronto and told reporters afterwards he wants the Liberal leader to remain prime minister after the Jan. 23 election.

The "extreme right-wing" Conservatives need to be kept from winning at all costs, Mr. Hargrove said.

Thus, union members might need to "vote strategically" in ridings where the NDP candidate is a distant third but the Liberals could win with union support, Mr. Hargrove said.

"We want a clear minority government, led by Paul Martin, with as many New Democrats holding the balance of power as possible."

The ideal political outcome, Mr. Hargrove continued, would be a minority Liberal government with the Liberals and NDP coming together to form a "stable coalition or sign an accord" to work together.

"That's in the best interest of Canada," Mr. Hargrove told reporters.

Mr. Hargrove, whose union has been a major financial supporter of the NDP over the years, has also been a bit of a loose cannon.

Asked if he had discussed the strategic voting idea with NDP Leader Jack Layton, Mr. Hargrove snapped: "No. I don't work for Jack."

But the CAW is more than just autoworkers now its a Canada wide union, one which also has ties with other unions like the Alberta Union of Public Employees, rogue unions that do not belong to the House of Labour the CLC and its Provincial Labour Federations. And Dan McLellan charismatic leader of AUPE is a died in the wool Liberal, as I blogged here he was being considered as a candidate in Edmonton for the Federal Liberals but turned them down. Instead he will be throwing his union weight behind Landslide Anne. Dan spoke at the CAW annual gathering and Buzz spoke in Edmonton at the AUPE convention. This little love affair has been going on since the CAW was suspended from the CLC for raiding the same time AUPE was. CAW raided SEIU, AUPE was raiding CUPE. AUPE supported the CAW. Buzz rejoined the House of Labour, and advocated for Dan. Dan saw more money coming into AUPE's coffers and not wanting to share it with the rest of the Labour movement stayed out of the CLC and its affiliates. AUPE is the largest Independent union in Alberta if not Western Canada.

What's the buzz
Tell me what's a-happening

Nor is the Strategic Voting concept new to Buzz he did it last election too. He started his political manouvers after the Provincial NDP government of Bob Ray attacked the unions with its social contract.

Internally it coincided with a rogue local in Oshawa, hmmm thats where all the job losses are now occuring, that revolted against the CAW/NDP alliance and supported the Reform Party. And went further demanding political freedom in the CAW to support the party of their choice. Note to those that are politically naive, Freedom of Choice is a Right Wing Slogan, as is We Are Not Political, We Are Non Paritisan. Wait a few minutes and the right wing will soon appear as being behind these slogans.

The debacle of the 1990-95 Ontario NDP government, opened up a serious rift between the NDP and the trade union bureaucracy, and in the 1995 election many unions chose to withhold aid, or at least downplay their support for the party. Currently the NDP hovers around 11% in the polls and few outside of some wildly optimistic party loyalists believe the party will improve on its 1995 showing. Hargrove then is caught in a bind. On the one hand he desperately wants to see Harris defeated, rightly describing his government as a disaster for working people; however, he has not forgiven the NDP (nor, for that matter, has the NDP asked for forgiveness!). No attempt is made to even conceal the contempt and loathing felt for the arrogant and intellectual Bob Rae in Labour of Love. Torn, Hargrove's alternative then has been to argue for strategic voting: In other words, while the paramount task is to defeat the Harris regime, this may mean in practice, the labour movement throwing their resources behind candidates other than the NDP if the NDP cannot win the riding. In effect they will be throwing their support behind the corporate Liberal party. Unfortunately the discussion around this policy was framed largely in terms of support for strategic voting or the traditional support of the NDP. Those who tried to argue a third policy were given little room for debate. After a long and heated debate at the CAW council in Port Elgin in December of 98, Hargrove's policy was adopted. Despite the fact that many CAW activists believe that most locals will pay only lip service this policy, the net effect will be to drag the CAW rightward and undermine any credibility the union has as a militant organization. Red & Black Notes #8, Spring 1999

Buzz developed his poltical plan of Strategic Voting around these events. But it has been a massive failure politically. And his current bid to be a Kingmaker with his mistaken Anybody But Harper Campaign seems out of step with current election reality. That was yesterdays campaign. But Buzz is hardheaded if nothing else. Unfortunately in politics that can mean disaster as his Strategic Voting campaign against Mike Harris in 1999 proved.

Union leaders themselves are partly to blame for being taken for granted by McGuinty. Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove, for example, refuses even now to say a bad word about McGuinty, who has promised to keep in place Mike Harris's pro-scab labour law.
"My campaign is to defeat the Mike Harris government and I don't care who gets elected, they can't be as bad," Hargrove says.

Earlier this month, the union's Canada Council voted by a majority of about two-thirds to endorse CAW president Buzz Hargrove's call for "strategic voting" to defeat the current Tory government--i.e. to support Liberal candidates wherever the nominees of the trade union-based New Democratic Party have little chance of defeating the Tory candidate. Although the "strategic voting" resolution did not specifically call for the election of a Liberal government, the province's parliamentary arithmetic and the NDP's current low-level of popular support make it all but inevitable that the CAW will be supporting the Liberals in a majority of Ontario's 103 parliamentary constituencies. The CAW resolution commits the union to "defeating as many Harris Tories as possible ... with the knowledge that this may bolster the Liberal campaign," and "not resourcing NDP campaigns without a chance." In speaking before the CAW's leading body, Hargrove was less circumspect. He sought to bolster Ontario Liberal leader Dalton McGuinty, proclaiming him as "at least ... not anti-labour."

Wow word for word what Buzz said today about Paul Martins Liberals versus Harpers Conservatives.

What's the buzz
Tell me what's a-happening

The NDP's own right wing rump further exasperated this situation over the years by demanding the party distance itself from the Labour movement, a movement that was the party's founding partner. The seperation which is slowly leading to a divorce has been messy. Its ended up with provincial parties passing legislation when they are government that ends union and corporate donations to Political Parties. While claiming its no loss to do this cause the NDP gets little if any corporate support, its object is to break the ties that bind between the NDP and Labour. The result is those ties are broken. As Buzz proves. No use crying about it, the NDP made their bed and now can lay in it.

What's the buzz
Tell me what's a-happening

Of course if Buzz was a politician he wouldn't get elected he thinks out loud too much, and his strategic voting strategy is too out front. Samuel Gompers founder of the American Federation of Labour, was to the right of Buzz but had more political acumen, his was a the politics of pragmatism; you work behind the scenes by rewarding your friends and punishing your enemies. In Buzz's case his poltical agenda is clear, save jobs in Southern Ontario. And to do that he needs both Martin and Layton in power. However its not a politics of pragmatism, nor of the possible, its out in your face Buzz-ego politics that sow dissension on the Left.Even his own Executive Assistant who is running against a Liberal for the NDP says so.

In Parkdale-High Park, Peggy Nash, assistant to Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove, is taking another run at the Liberals' Sarmite Bulte. The NDP nomination takes place tomorrow night. Bulte won last year with 19,727 votes to 16,201 for Nash. Conservative Jurij Klufas, also running again, got 7,221. Nash said the NDP was hurt in 2004 by voters going to the Liberals in order to stop the Conservatives. With another minority government a solid possibility this time around, voters are less likely to be scared away from the NDP, she argues.

Opps somebody should tell her about Buzz's plan. And pragmatically it could mean the defeat of some NDP candidates in close races as happened last election, leaving the hated Conservatives to get elected. Thanks Buzz.

What's the buzz
Tell me what's a-happening

5 Alberta LPNs’ fight to be classified as ‘direct nurses’ continues as some unions push back

Story by Destiny Meilleur • Yesterday 

A nurse prepares a vaccine. .© GAC

Agroup of five licensed practical nurses (LPNs) pushing to have their jobs reclassified as direct nurses is now waiting to hear from the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB) on where their fight goes next.

LPNs for Change is the name of the group of nurses. The group's members are working to have their job classifications changed from auxiliary nurses to direct nurses.

Members of LPNs for Change along with union officials met with officials at the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB) on Tuesday so the board could decide if there was enough information to move forward to set a hearing date to determine if LPNs should be reclassified as direct nurses.

The ALRB determined that it needs more responses and evidence in order to schedule a hearing date.

If the ALRB decides a hearing will be held, the hearing date will be determined after the unions that oppose the job reclassification have provided a list of written objections and the group of LPNs provides a written response to the unions.

Following the written responses, the ALRB will determine if the case will be dismissed or not.

LPNs for Change

LPNs for Change was formed in May 2022 when LPNs were asked to vote on their latest contracts by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE).

LPNs for Change's members say their roles have changed drastically over the years and that they now provide direct care to patients.

Direct nurses provide bedside nursing and utilize the standard nursing process: assessment, diagnosis, planning, implementation and evaluation.

The group submitted an application regarding the matter to the ALRB.

LPNs for Change said its application asks to reclassify the positions of 11,800 nurses from auxiliary nursing, a classification it considers similar to a health-care aide or a nurse's helper, to direct nursing.

“Why are we not with the rest of the nurses?” was the question that Ginny Wong said she asked herself when she helped form LPNs for Change. “LPNs have always been left behind in terms of what we really should be represented by and how we should be represented.

“People have started questioning whether or not we are in the right bargaining unit.”

The group says it wants to make it clear its members understand the difference between LPNs and registered nurses (RNs). It also notes its members have respect for RNs and in no way mean to diminish their jobs or position.

“We don't even expect to ever be paid as (RNs are),” said Quintin Martin, another co-founder of LPNs for Change. “We're doing this because we provide direct nursing and we have for a long time.

“We want to be recognized as direct nursing care.”

Wong said she believes reclassifying LPNs would provide those nurses with a much-needed confidence boost.

“With the reclassification, we can get the recognition and acknowledgment that we so deserve," she said. "So then we can build our confidence in saying, 'We're nurses (and) we are providing the direct nursing care because that's what we do day in and day out.

“We are so used to being the second-class (nurse) that we even say that ourselves. In nursing, confidence is really important. We have the skill, we have the education. (But) we need the confidence to properly perform our duty."

Unions weigh in on push for reclassification

A number of unions that operate in Alberta have made statements regarding the application, and in one case a union has asked for the application to be thrown out entirely.

The AUPE, which represents most LPNs in Alberta, issued a statement regarding the matter on May 31, saying it believes “the application is without merit, is doomed to fail and is a colossal waste of the resources.”

The union has asked the ALRB to dismiss the case.

The AUPE said the group that filed the application represents only a small number of nurses who do not or should not be speaking for all nurses.

“It is notable that the applicants here are only five LPNs,” the AUPE said. “They explicitly do not purport to speak on behalf of any other LPNs.

“It would be problematic to permit five individuals to upset long-established and stable bargaining units.”

The AUPE also questioned whether reclassifying LPNs would actually address concerns regarding morale and wages.

The United Steelworkers (USW) union said it agrees with the AUPE’s position.

"Our position is that this application is without merit,” the USW said in a written statement on June 9.

“There is no reasonable prospect the application will succeed and no basis for proceeding with full hearing."

However, the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) has said it agrees with the application and believes the nurses’ argument is valid.

“UNA believes LPNs clearly provide direct nursing care and belong in the ‘direct nursing’ bargaining unit, along with registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, who also provide direct nursing care,” the union said.

The UNA also said while it had no part in the application, it supports the movement and encourages the LPNs to keep pushing.

The UNA voicing its support for the group of LPNs has been met with criticism from others in the labour movement, who say they believe the UNA may be trying to bring members of other unions into its organization.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) says it has filed a complaint with the Canadian Labour Congress to voice its concerns.

The UNA said that these claims are untrue and that it did nothing wrong by submitting a letter voicing its support of the LPN group's application.

David Harrigan, the UNA's director of labour relations, said he finds it very odd that CUPE would even make such a claim.

"It's not terribly unusual to have little jurisdictional issues where one union says, you know, 'That person should be in my bargaining unit and not that bargaining unit,'" he said.

The UNA said its opinion has not changed since more than 10 years ago when it first attempted to reclassify a small group of LPNs and the ALRB dismissed its attempt.

The two biggest employers of LPNs in Alberta -- Alberta Health Services and Covenant Health -- have both decided to remain neutral on the matter.

What’s next?

The AUPE is holding telephone town halls for its members later this week to have a "conversation about (LPNs) and the important work (they) do."

The AUPE and the other objecting unions have until mid-August to provide written reason as to why the application should be dismissed.

The LPNs will then have two weeks to provide written responses to the arguments for dismissal.

The ALRB will then make a decision on whether there will be a hearing or if the case will be dismissed.

LPNs for Change is asking Alberta LPNs to send the group a list of what tasks they complete in their jobs. LPNs for Change also wants RNs and patients who believe LPNs' jobs involve direct nursing to send letters to the group explaining what LPNs do.

If there is a hearing to determine if the LPNs will be reclassified as direct nurses, LPNs for Change said it suspects that would take place sometime in the fall.

If the reclassification application is successful, LPNs for Change said LPNs would have three options: stay in the AUPE, be moved to the UNA or a new union would be formed -- a decision that would be based on a vote of all Alberta LPNs.

Harrigan said he believes it is very unlikely the LPNs would form their own union.

"I expect if they're reclassified, there would then be a vote of all of the nurses: the RNs, RPNs (registered psychiatric nurses) and the LPNs," he said. "And there would likely be a vote to see for that group who they wanted as their union."

Video: UCP changes regulations so Alberta LPNs can do more

Notley, AUPE respond to Kenney's cabinet shuffle

BY JOSH RITCHIE
Last Updated Sep 22, 2021 

CALGARY — It didn’t take long for reaction to roll in after Jason Kenney shuffled his cabinet on Tuesday.

The cabinet shuffle was quick and saw former Health Minister Tyler Shandro shifted to be the new minister of labour and immigration.

While the man who held that role for the last two years, Jason Copping, was sworn in as the new minister of health.

Opposition NDP Leader Rachel Notley says swapping two ministers doesn’t change the fact that Jason Kenney is still the premier.

“Even if Jason Kenney were to step down, it doesn’t change the fact that the UCP has proven fundamentally that they cannot provide a responsible government for Albertans in a life-threatening pandemic,” said Notley.

She adds that while she isn’t sure if Tyler Shandro actually resigned from his position or not, the current issues the government face go beyond the former health minister.

Meanwhile, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) welcomed seeing someone new take on the role of health minister.

“Good riddance,” said AUPE Vice-President Susan Slade. “Tyler Shandro set fire to Alberta’s health care system and hung Albertans out to dry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s past time for him to suffer some consequences for his actions.”

In a release, AUPE says members recently obtained more than 1,299 online signatures calling for Shandro to resign.

Slade says Kenney’s cabinet shuffle is an attempt for the premier to salvage his reputation and echoed Notley in saying that, this is still a government run by Kenney.

“This is still Kenney’s government,” she said. “This does not erase how he has mistreated and attacked health care workers. Doctors won’t forget. Nurses won’t forget. Support services won’t forget. Patients won’t forget.”

Slade added that there are still some blemishes on Copping’s record, which include “regressive changes to workers’ compensation and legislation that could shut down protests against the government.”

“AUPE members are ready to defend themselves and all Albertans, regardless of whomever Kenney appoints,” she said. “When workers are under attack we stand up and fight back.”

Tyler Shandro and Jason Copping swap cabinet positions

Labour and Immigration Minister Jason Copping will take over the health portfolio this afternoon

Author of the article: Ashley Joannou

Publishing date: Sep 21, 2021

Health Minister Tyler Shandro announces the province's new COVID restrictions at McDougall Centre as Dr. Deena Hinshaw joins the press conference from Edmonton on Friday, September 3, 2021

 PHOTO BY AZIN GHAFFARI /Postmedia

Tyler Shandro is no longer Alberta’s health minister after more than a year of heavy criticism over his handling of the portfolio.

Shandro was shuffled out at a short ceremony Tuesday afternoon, swapping roles with former labour and immigration minister Jason Copping who now takes over the health ministry.

Media was not invited to the ceremony, which was broadcast online. At a press conference later in the day, Premier Jason Kenney said Shandro offered his resignation from the health role and that both he and Shandro agreed it was time for a change.

“It is time for a fresh start, and a new pair of eyes on the largest department in the government, especially at a time such as this,” Kenney said, adding that it has been a “gruelling” file for Shandro.

Shandro had repeatedly faced calls to resign as health minister amid the COVID-19 pandemic and a protracted dispute between the government and doctors.

NDP Leader Rachel Notley — whose party had made those calls — said the news of Shandro’s shuffle was “welcome” but not a solution to the crisis going on in Alberta hospitals, which are overwhelmed by COVID-19.

“A cabinet shuffle will not ease the immense pressure on our hospitals from this severe fourth wave. It won’t reschedule the life-saving surgeries of thousands of Albertans. It won’t recover our economy. And it won’t help everyday families looking for leadership. Albertans deserve better.”

As newly-minted health minister, Copping said his focus will be on increasing hospital capacity, educating vaccine hesitant Albertans and preparing the health-care system for potential future waves of COVID-19.

“I stepped into this role, resolutely committed to building immediate capacity. However, we also know that COVID-19 is not likely to go anywhere, anytime soon,” he said.

Shandro’s departure comes as the province grapples with the fourth wave of COVID-19, which has put heavy pressure on the health-care system, particularly in intensive care units, leading to the cancellation of all surgeries that are considered non-essential and calls for other provinces and the federal government to help

.

Premier Jason Kenney standing in front of Jason Copping the newly appointed Minister of Health during a news conference in Edmonton, Tuesday, Sept. 21, 2021. 

PHOTO BY ED KAISER /Postmedia

Kenney under fire

It also comes as Kenney faces internal conflict over the government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Tuesday, a senior member of the UCP called for his resignation, days after asking the UCP board to hold an emergency meeting to discuss an early leadership review.

Mount Royal University political scientist Duane Bratt said Tuesday that he doesn’t think swapping Shandro for Copping will be enough to quell the discontent Kenney is facing.

“I don’t think he could have done anything to keep his job. I mean, Shandro is being removed why? Because he implemented exactly what the premier wanted him to do,” he said.

Ahead of a caucus meeting scheduled for Wednesday, Kenney said he believes he still has the support of the members of his party, caucus and party board.

“There have been a voices of opposition to public health policies from within my own party from day one of the pandemic. It’s not a secret. But my responsibility as premier is to listen to public health advice, look at the reality, not wish it away, not allow politics to pressure us from taking the necessary steps to save lives and protect the health-care system,” he said.

Bratt also said he believes moving Shandro off the health file has been in the works for some time but that Kenney held off until after Monday’s federal election to avoid doing more damage to the federal Conservatives.

When questioned multiple times by reporters about the timing of Shandro’s move, Kenney repeated that the pair decided that it was time for a “fresh set of eyes” and said the government is focused on getting through the fourth wave of the pandemic, not on politics.

‘Good riddance’: AUPE

Shandro was regularly at odds with the province’s health-care associations and doctors, leading to the multiple calls for his resignation.

In March, 2020, after Shandro took fire for confronting a Calgary doctor in his driveway over a social media post, Kenney rejected such calls, saying it was understandable Shandro became “passionate” in defending his spouse.

After doctors voted down a contract offer from the province in April 2021, Kenney rejected calls to fire him, saying he had his “full, 100 per cent confidence.”

Dr. Paul Boucher, president of the Alberta Medical Association, said that while there has been challenging times during negotiations, he appreciates Shandro’s “efforts to improve the relationship with physicians in recent months.”

“I wish him well. We look forward to continuing with his successor our current efforts to solidify the relationship between government and the medical profession,” he said in a statement Tuesday.

In 2020, the government said it would be cutting 11,000 Alberta Health Services jobs mostly by outsourcing positions in laboratories, housekeeping, food services and laundry. The change is estimated to save $600 million annually.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which has raised the alarm about the outsourcing, welcomed the news of Shandro’s departure.
“Good riddance,” said Susan Slade, AUPE vice-president, in a statement. “Tyler Shandro set fire to Alberta’s health-care system and hung Albertans out to dry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s past time for him to suffer some consequences for his actions.”

Kenney, meanwhile, thanked Shandro for his service and called him “one of the hardest working people I’ve ever known.”

The AUPE and Friends of Medicare criticized Copping for a piece of legislation he tabled last year limiting presumptive coverage for psychological injuries to only firefighters, police officers, peace officers, paramedics, corrections officers and emergency dispatchers.

Friends of Medicare also condemned a call his local constituency association made for the government to “support the option of a privately-funded and privately-managed health-care system” during the UCP’s 2020 convention.

Slade claimed moving Shandro is Kenney’s attempt to salvage his reputation by giving the impression of a fresh start for his government’s management of the health-care file.

“This is still Kenney’s government,” she said. “This does not erase how he has mistreated and attacked health-care workers. Doctors won’t forget. Nurses won’t forget. Support services won’t forget. Patients won’t forget.”

– With files from Lisa Johnson

Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre workers seek third-party review of 'toxic' workplace

Jonny Wakefield 

4/21/2021

© Provided by Edmonton Journal Exterior of the Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre.

Staff at Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre are demanding an independent review after a survey found most employees feel their workplace is “toxic.”

Seventy per cent of respondents to a recent survey reported feeling bullied at work, according to results released Wednesday by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE).

Eighty-five per cent said the work environment has taken a toll on their mental health, while around 75 per cent reported negative consequences to their physical health. More than half believed managers would retaliate if they raised concerns.

Ninety-five per cent of employees want the provincial government to order a third-party review of the workplace, AUPE said in a news release, saying relations between managers and staff have broken down.

“It’s a very hard job,” said Susan Slade, AUPE vice-president. “And it’s a very trying job, dealing with, you know, criminals. But at the end of the day, you should still be able to have a healthy work environment.”

FSCC was built in 1988 . It can house 546 prisoners , including pretrial inmates and those serving sentences. It has averaged fewer than 300 inmates during the COVID-19 pandemic.

AUPE represents the majority of workers at the facility, including correctional officers, licensed practical nurses and administrative staff. Around 80 per cent filled out the AUPE survey.

Slade said the current issues go back at least five years. In October, staff presented managers with a list of issues, but were “brushed off.”

“(Staff) feel that management just doesn’t want to listen,” said Slade.

The pandemic has increased tensions. In December, correctional peace officer Roger Maxwell died of COVID-19. Slade said his passing is now considered a workplace death. Forty-seven per cent of respondents said the centre’s COVID response was among their biggest concerns, “second only to the issue of bullying, harassment, and intimidation,” AUPE spokesman Jon Milton said.
Other jails flagged after ‘toxic’ workplace complaints

FSCC is the latest Edmonton-area correctional facility to report toxic workplace concerns.

In 2019, the province released the results of an independent workplace review of the Edmonton Remand Centre (ERC), which compared the workplace culture to a “high school” riven with cliques, bullying and immature behaviour.

In response to the report, then-Justice Minister Doug Schweitzer announced unspecified “staffing changes” at the management level.

The federal, maximum-security Edmonton Institution, meanwhile, has long been plagued by complaints about the workplace culture.

In 2019, Postmedia obtained a workplace review which found numerous allegations of sexual assault and harassment involving co-workers at Edmonton Institution. Canada’s correctional investigator has repeatedly highlighted bullying, harassment and intimidation issues at Edmonton Institution, which fired, suspended or forced out 11 staffers in 2018.

Slade said the ERC review resulted in positive changes, but stressed that the workplace is still “not a perfect scenario or anything like that.” She hopes to see similar action at Fort Saskatchewan.

In a statement, justice ministry spokeswoman Katherine Thompson said the government “takes concerns about workplace culture very seriously, and that is why plans continue to be developed to enhance collaboration and the workplace culture among the staff and leadership at Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre.”

“Management or staff who don’t support a professional and respectful work environment are not meeting expectations, whether those of their colleagues, this department, or Albertans at large,” she added.

Slade said correctional facilities should not be inherently toxic workplaces.

“We need to stop that kind of culture, and we need to stop that kind of (belief), that it’s OK to not feel mentally healthy because you work in corrections,” she said.

jwakefield@postmedia.com

twitter.com/jonnywakefield

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AUPE Recognizes National Indigenous History Month and the Importance of MMIWG Final Report | AUPE

AUPE - Alberta Union of Provincial Employees

Sponsored · 

“This Indigenous History Month, AUPE members call on the provincial government to commit to reconciliation and justice for Indigenous people," said Karen Weiers, AUPE Vice-President and Chair of the union's Human Rights Committee.

"This is especially important given the recent release of The National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls’ Final Report.”