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THE GHOST OF KLEIN HAUNTS ALBERTA
About 350 AHS jobs to be affected by outsourcing of linen and laundry services

Ashley Joannou 

© Provided by Edmonton Journal The Alberta Health Services logo.


Alberta Health Services is outsourcing the last of its in-house laundry jobs, impacting 334 employees.

In a statement Monday, AHS said the remaining linen and laundry services will transition to K-Bro Linen Systems starting in September.

K-Bro already handles more than two-thirds of AHS’s linen services including in Calgary, Edmonton, Hinton and Edson.

The company will begin taking over the rural Calgary zone followed by the south, central and north zones. AHS estimates it will take 34 weeks for K-Bro to completely take over providing linen services throughout the province by April 2022.

“If AHS were to try to maintain the existing in-house services, more than $38 million in upgrades would be required to ensure both safety and quality of services. Alternatively, AHS would need to invest more than $100 million to build new modern linen systems across the province,” the statement says.

The outsourcing will impact approximately 334 full-time, part-time and casual employees, the health authority said.

“AHS is committed to working with them and their union throughout this process to explore potential options in accordance with the collective agreement,” according to the statement.

Kevin Barry, vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), said the move to outsource the remaining jobs is going to hurt rural Alberta. He expects K-Bro to centralize operations in larger cities and not keep the rural positions that exist now.

“(Government officials) talk about a strategy to help small businesses recover from the pandemic and this is certainly not a way to do it — to cut jobs from the rural communities who are going to need these people to shop in their communities to help support small business,” he said.

K-Bro Linen Systems did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday.

Barry said it is risky to be trucking in linen to communities if there is ever bad weather that might impact road conditions.

Last year 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.

A review conducted by Ernst & Young in 2020 found that outsourcing seven different services including linen, housekeeping and food would save the government between $100 million and $146 million annually.

The news of the upcoming cuts led to a one-day wildcat strike last year by some AHS employees in an effort to get the government to change its mind.

https://plawiuk.blogspot.com/2021/07/kenney-ghost-of-klein-alberta-hospital.html

FOR BACKGROUND ON K-BRO, AND THE WILCAT STRIKE AGAINST KLEIN IN 1995 SEE

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LAWN ORDER GOVERNMENT

Braid: Criminals walk as UCP faces chronic problems with prosecution service

If prosecutors walk off the job, hundreds of cases would suddenly shut down, letting more perpetrators walk free

Author of the article: Don Braid • Calgary Herald
Publishing date: Apr 20, 2022 •

Crown prosecutor Aaron Rankin poses for a portrait at Centrium Place in downtown Calgary on Tuesday, April 19, 2022. 

PHOTO BY AZIN GHAFFARI /Postmedia

Alberta’s Crown counsels — the ones who prosecute offenders — are talking seriously about going on strike. This is another crisis nobody needs, least of all the UCP government.

The Crown attorneys association has a meeting Thursday with Treasury Board officials that could lead to progress on pay.

This is welcome. Most Alberta prosecutors earn far less than their counterparts in other provinces. The gap with Ontario is said to be 40 per cent.

But pay is only one problem. On March 22, the Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association sent Premier Jason Kenney a letter, asking for an urgent meeting.

They said, in part: “The Alberta Crown Prosecution Service is in crisis.

“Crushing file loads, inadequate mental health supports and uncompetitive compensation have led to dozens of unfilled prosecutor positions.

“We have seen a significant number of prosecutors leave the ACPS for places like British Columbia and Ontario, to the extent that the ACPS often seems like a farm team for other prosecution services.”

If prosecutors walk off the job, hundreds of cases would suddenly shut down, letting more perpetrators walk free.

As many as 3,000 cases are already at risk of withdrawal because they haven’t been taken to court within time limits. A work stoppage by the Crowns would add many more. After a strike of any length, the courts would face even greater backlogs when trials resumed.

“One of the very last things we want to do is go on strike, but we’re forced to look out for the long-term viability of the (prosecution) service,” says Dallas Sopko, president of the Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association (ACAA).

Dallas Sopko, president of the Alberta Crown Attorneys’ Association, says there is strong support for a strike. 

PHOTO BY IAN KUCERAK /Postmedia

“We did a survey of our members and a very strong majority were in favour of going on strike. This isn’t just a bluff. This isn’t just words we throw around loosely.”

Under current conditions, the letter says, cases that could be stayed include “sexual assault, robberies, domestic assaults and other crimes of significant violence.” That doesn’t include hundreds of even more serious cases awaiting trial in Court of Queen’s Bench.

The prosecutors didn’t get a meeting with the premier. But “discussions” have started.

Alberta has about 380 Crown lawyers. The count is fluid because departures (and some additions) happen regularly.

The government did announce hiring of 50 new Crown prosecutors, mostly at the junior level. Officials say those people were brought on.

But still, departures are so high that nearly 40 positions are now vacant. In recent weeks three prosecutors from the Calgary office and four in Edmonton have taken jobs in other provinces. Every time that happens, the court backlogs stack up further.


MORE ON THIS TOPIC

Crown prosecutors see 'glimmer of hope' to avoid strike after government meeting

Possible Crown prosecutor strike would bring justice system to a 'grinding halt'

The UCP has said for three years now that public servants make too much money in comparison with other provinces, based on the findings of the MacKinnon Report. The government’s key policy goal is to bring pay into line.

But the standard should apply both ways. If a vital area such as Crown prosecution is seriously underpaid by national standards, the compensation should surely be raised.

The government acknowledges that some Crowns, although not all, face a significant pay gap. There seems to be a will to fix that.

But the prosecutors have other problems. In 2017, the UCP, then in opposition, called for an end to triage; the system brought in by the NDP that allows picking and choosing which cases go to trial. Some are never heard because of staff shortages.

And yet, triage still exists under the UCP. The Crowns want it ended. There is also a shortage of security in rural courtrooms, a high level of stress and burnout, and many other problems.

The prosecutors are classified as managers even though, as Sopko says, “95 per cent of our lawyers don’t manage anyone.”

That classification means Crown prosecutors have faced several politically motivated pay freezes. It also keeps them from negotiating with the government. Unlike prosecutors in every other province but Saskatchewan and Prince Edward Island, they do not have collective bargaining rights.

The government’s position seems to be that the Crowns are welcome to join the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees. By law, all units with employees who work for government must bargain through AUPE.

But the lawyers argue persuasively that this would create a conflict of interest.

In trials, prosecutors often call witnesses who work for the government.

   

A courtroom at the Edmonton Law Courts building. 

PHOTO BY JASON FRANSON /The Canadian Press, file

A social worker might testify against an abusive spouse, for instance. The defence could claim that the worker and the Crown prosecutor are in conflict as AUPE members.

The Crowns asked the Labour Relations Board for certification as an independent bargaining unit. They were unsuccessful at the Board and again at Queen’s Bench. The case is now before the Appeal Court, awaiting decision.

The Queen’s Bench judgment rejected the prosecutors’ case on technical grounds, but pointed out that Crowns have their own independent bargaining units in British Columbia, Ontario, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

About 300 of the province’s Crown lawyers have joined the voluntary ACAA. It has gained informal standing with the government. The mere fact of a meeting with Treasury officials is a big step.

While the union question sorts out, there has to be urgent action on pay, staff shortages, security in rural court, work conditions and triaging.

Government neglect, alternating with occasional action, has allowed problems to fester and grow.

“There has to be some structure in place to prevent standards in the ACPS from slipping while political attention is directed elsewhere,” says Aaron Rankin, secretary of the prosecutors’ association.

“Albertans should be able to count on that.”

Only the criminals would disagree.


Don Braid’s column appears regularly in the Herald.
Twitter: @DonBraid
Facebook: Don Braid Politics

CLASS WAR IN ALBERTA 

Shannon Phillips

23 hrs · 

We are in Hour 24 of bill debate. We’re standing up for people’s overtime and for young people’s minimum wage.

Your NDP team will work as long as it takes to stand up for working people. We’re not going to let Jason Kenney pick your pocket or scoop your overtime pay without a fight. #ableg

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AUPE Calls General Strike Over Safety

The difference between business unionism and industrial unionism. Business unions are in the business of keeping business operating, industrial/social unionism says wobble the job for health and safety.

The head of Alberta Building Trades Council is calling for calm over the deaths of two foreign workers at a Fort McMurray-area oilpatch worksite.

Executive director Ron Harry called on workers and the public to wait until all investigations into the tragedy are complete before making any decisions.

"There are processes and policies on each site," said Harry.

"In the end a worker is a worker, no matter if he's union or non-union, an immigrant or non-immigrant. It's unfortunate but you must find out what caused the situation first."

He was responding to reports Doug Knight of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees called on workers to walk off the job immediately if they fear the jobsite is not safe.

If there is immediate danger at the workplace you must remove yourself and your co-workers from it," said Harry, "then work with the employers and owners on site about the problem, don't just walk off the job."

The ABTC represents 50,000 unionized workers, 16 affiliate trade unions and 23 locals in Alberta. The two workers killed were not union members.

Harry said that the last thing he wants to see are massive groups of workers walking off the job sites without first going through the workplace safety steps.

The two men died while working at the Canadian Natural Resources Ltd site in the Fort MacKay area, near Fort McMurray. Witnesses said that a massive tank collapsed and killed the two temporary Chinese workers and injured four more.

Fiona Wiseman, spokesman for Occupation Health and Safety, said that four investigators from Alberta Employment, Immigration and Industry are already at the site.

A government translator who speaks Mandarin, the same language the two dead men spoke, is also on the scene. Wiseman said that no details will be released until the investigation is completed. In 2006, 124 people died on the job in Alberta. The death toll reached 27 in the first two months of 2007.

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Solidarity rallies for health-care workers bring out support in Calgary, Edmonton

© Mike Symington/CBC 

Supporters gathered in front of the Foothills Medical Centre at 6:30 a.m. on Thursday.

Several rallies were held across Alberta on Thursday morning to show solidarity for health-care workers who walked off the job last week to protest the provincial government's announcement it would outsource thousands of jobs.

On Oct. 26, hundreds of health-care workers engaged in a wildcat strike after Alberta's Minister of Health Tyler Shandro announced that Alberta Health Services would lay off between 9,700 and 11,000 employees.

They were swiftly ordered back to work by the Alberta Labour Relations Board.

On Oct. 27, Finance Minister Travis Toews told reporters that nursing and support workers who participated in the strike could be fined, suspended or even fired from their jobs.

On Thursday, supporters gathered in front of the Foothills Medical Centre and the Sheldon M. Chumir Health Centre in Calgary, and Edmonton's University of Alberta Hospital, to show their support for the front-line workers.

"We [are here] to thank all of the brave members that walked out on Oct. 26," said Bobby-Joe Borodey, one of the vice-presidents of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) — the union that represents the health-care workers — at the rally in front of the Foothills hospital.

"We did that to send a message to [Premier] Jason Kenney and the UCP government that this direction that they're heading in with privatization is awful, and it's something that Albertans don't want."
'Make no mistake, they're all front-line workers'

Unions representing Alberta's health-care workers told CBC Edmonton in mid-October that there would be major labour strife if the government follows through on the proposed restructuring plan underpinned by thousands of layoffs.

Most of those who will lose their jobs work in laboratory, linen, cleaning and in-patient food services with AHS, and their positions will be outsourced to private companies.

According to Borodey, there is no overstating the value of their work during COVID-19.

"Make no mistake, they're all front-line workers," Borodey said. "When this pandemic started, they were the heroes that were on the front-line — the first line of defence at keeping Albertans safe at hospitals and health centres across the province.

"And then, when we're in month eight, all of a sudden, they're zeroes. And they're overpaid and replaceable. So, they're feeling pretty deflated and frustrated."

© Mike Symington/CBC Calgary

 'We're in the same risk as these guys. It's high-stress. It takes a lot of dedication, it takes a lot of courage to go to work every day. And then to have the employer treat you with such disregard, it's, you know, it's demoralizing,' Mike Mahar said.

Mike Mahar, the Canadian director of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU), said that as fellow essential workers, the ATU wanted to attend the rally at the Foothills show its support.

Mahar, who had strong words for the provincial government, said transit workers understand the intense pressure of working the front-lines during the pandemic.

"We're in the same risk as these guys. It's high-stress. It takes a lot of dedication, it takes a lot of courage to go to work every day. And then to have the employer treat you with such disregard, it's, you know, it's demoralizing," Mahar said.

"To have the carpet pulled out from under you like that, during a pandemic — it's actually reckless. I think it's criminal. Not just putting those people out of work, but doing it right now … it's going to cost people's lives, I bet."

NDP MLA David Shepherd, who also attended the rally at the Foothills, said he is receiving hundreds of emails from people who are tired of the attacks on health-care staff.

"[The UCP government] announced this as our province is entering into the second wave of COVID-19. It's absolutely unacceptable," Shepherd said.

CBC News asked the Alberta government for comment on the rallies but it has not yet responded.

However, in October, Shandro said the cuts are eventually expected to save up to $600 million annually, and there will be a "long-term and gradual" implementation of the plan.

TWEEDLE DEE & TWEEDLE DUM CHANGE PLACES

Shandro shuffled out as Alberta's health minister, takes on labour portfolio in swap with Copping

Former health minister faced heavy criticism throughout the pandemic

Author of the article:Ashley Joannou
Publishing date:Sep 21, 2021 • 3 hours ago • 2 minute read • 29 Comments

Tyler Shandro was shuffled off the health portfolio Tuesday afternoon. 

PHOTO BY AZIN GHAFFARI /Postmedia, file



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. Premier Jason Kenney did not give a statement explaining his decision to swap the portfolios.

Amid the turmoil of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a protracted dispute between the government and doctors, the NDP Opposition had repeatedly called for Shandro’s resignation as health minister.

In March, 2020, after Shandro took fire for confronting a Calgary doctor in his driveway, Kenney rejected calls for his removal, 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 again rejected calls to fire Shandro, saying he had his “full, 100 per cent confidence.”

In a written statement Tuesday, NDP Leader Rachel Notley called news of Shandro’s shuffle “welcome” but said it is not a solution to the crisis going on in Alberta hospitals.

“It is clear that the responsibility for Alberta’s pandemic mismanagement rests on the shoulders of every UCP member and therefore it is incumbent on them all to take responsibility and chart a more effective path on behalf of Albertans,” Notley said.

“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.”

Tuesday’s move comes as the province is dealing with a fourth wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Alberta currently has the highest rate of new COVID-19 cases in the country. The latest wave 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.

Officials with Alberta Health Services announced last week that they were reaching out to other Canadian provinces asking for ICU spaces and skilled labour.

With files from Lisa Johnson

Alberta's new health minister brings questions and concerns from opponents to portfolio

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at MRU, said there are many questions around how Copping, a relatively unknown member of the legislature, ended up in the position and what he will do now that he has the role

Author of the article:Dylan Short
Publishing date:Sep 21, 2021

Minsiter of Health Jason Copping seen during his time as Minister of Labour and Immigration 

PHOTO BY LARRY WONG/POSTMEDIA


The appointment of a Calgary MLA into the role of health minister has left question marks, doubt and worry amid political commentators and opponents.

Jason Copping, MLA for Calgary Varsity and former minister of Labour and Immigration, took the reins as health minister Tuesday afternoon. Tyler Shandro has taken over Copping’s former portfolio.

Duane Bratt, a political scientist at Mount Royal University, wished Copping good luck as he steps into his new role, a position that has been under increasing scrutiny. Alberta is currently grappling with the highest COVID-19 case numbers in Canada and a health-care system that is struggling to maintain capacity.

Bratt said there are many questions around how Copping, a relatively unknown member of the legislature, ended up in the position and what he will do now that he has the role.

“How did he end up (there), was he the last guy in the room?” said Bratt. “I don’t know how he ended up in that job.”

Before entering provincial politics, Copping spent two decades working in management in the labour relations and human resources fields. His official UCP bio states he has previously worked on collective bargaining agreements and represented management in arbitration cases.

Copping was first elected into the legislature in 2019 and named to Premier Jason Kenney’s cabinet later that year. He has spent the past two years as the minister of Labour and Immigration, sponsoring five bills. Those bills mostly amended legislation around business and workplaces.

One of his recent bills, Bill 47: Ensuring Safety and Cutting Red Tape, 2020, changed a number of legal protections and compensation measures introduced by the previous NDP government. Those changes included the removal of presumptive psychological coverage for many health-care workers, including nurses and doctors.

Those workers can still receive compensation for issues such as post-traumatic stress disorder, but the Workers Compensation Board (WCB) won’t automatically assume those injuries come from the workplace.

Official Opposition Leader Rachel Notley reacted to Tuesday’s cabinet shuffle in a series of tweets, saying Copping has a legacy of revoking WCB protections and failing to protect workers at Alberta meat plants during COVID-19 outbreaks in the workplace.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) issued a similar statement, saying Copping has “blemishes” on his record, pointing to changes in workers legislation.

Bratt said the new role would be difficult for anyone to take on as relations have been frayed through past and present labour negotiations with health-care workers.

The province is currently negotiating a new bargaining agreement with the United Nurses of Alberta.

“What is his standing? What are the policy changes? Those are all very good questions and there is, I mean, there is no trust that the health-care workers have with the government over labour negotiations,” said Bratt.

Copping said Tuesday afternoon that he is honoured to be asked to serve as health minister. He said he has three pillars he plans to work on: increasing health-care capacity permanently, getting vaccine-hesitant Albertans to receive their shots and prepping the health-care system to adequately respond to potential future waves of COVID-19.

“We obviously have immediate and significant pressures on our health-care system right now and I step into this role resolutely committed to building immediate capacity,” said Copping.

Edmonton city staff, police to observe National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

Recognizing the importance of the Truth and Reconciliation calls to action, City of Edmonton staff along with the Edmonton Police Service (EPS) will recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation

.

© Wes Rosa, Global News 

Edmonton City Hall pictured on Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020.

Over the summer months, Ottawa declared Sept. 30 as a national holiday that is meant to give public servants an opportunity to recognize the legacy of residential schools.

The day also coincides with Orange Shirt Day — a day on which people honour residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad, who had her orange shirt taken away on the first day of school.

"Our commitment to the Indigenous community we share these lands with is to continue to work with, understand, and grow as we recognize past wrongs and build bridges to the future,” said Edmonton city manager Andre Corbould.

Read more: Alberta leaves National Day for Truth and Reconciliation stat holiday up to employers

During the day off, police and city staff are encouraged to learn about the intergenerational trauma caused to Indigenous peoples, according to a news release.

Video: Meaningful ways to mark Canada’s first-ever Truth and Reconciliation Day

Community events along with workplace activities will also be planned for the Thursday.

“Recognizing Sept. 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is an important step in rebuilding relationships and reconnecting with Edmonton’s Indigenous community,” said EPS chief Dale McFee.

“There is still much work to do on the path toward true reconciliation, but the Edmonton Police Service is honoured to have this opportunity to reflect on our shared history and the impacts on Indigenous communities.”

Some services within Edmonton will be reduced to observe the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.

City of Calgary will observe September 30 - National Day for Truth and Reconciliation


(ANNews) – In June 2021, the Federal Government of Canada announced September 30 as the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation, making the date a paid day off for federal workers and employees in federally regulated workplaces.

The national holiday was one of the 94 calls to action from the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada and was created to allow Canadian citizens the opportunity to honour and reflect on Canada’s history of Residential Schools.

However, Canada has said that the holiday only applies to federally regulated employers subject to the code, meaning that the federal legislation does not apply to provincially regulated employers unless a provincial legislature makes amendments to provincial law.

The Alberta Government has announced it will not be recognizing the day and has opted to leave the implementation of the holiday to provincially regulated industries, such as Alberta Health Services (AHS).

Alberta Indigenous Relations press secretary Adrienne South said that while the government is not recognizing the federal holiday, the province is encouraging Albertans to acknowledge and honour the legacy of the Residential School system.

“We must not limit our acknowledgement to the legacy of residential schools to just one day,” she said.

South then emphasized the province’s commitment to “implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission’s provincial calls to action, including helping Indigenous Albertans reclaim their traditional Indigenous names.”

In response to the province’s decision, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) is filing formal policy grievances against Alberta-regulated employers that are refusing to acknowledge the federal holiday.

The Union has said that some employers, like Alberta Health Services, have collective agreements which compel employers to acknowledge holidays created by the federal government.

Assembly of First Nations Alberta Association Regional Chief, Marlene Poitras, is also not pleased with the province’s decision.

“There have been too many stories in recent days of this provincial government ignoring First Nations peoples and communities in the province,” she said. “Why won’t the government step up and acknowledge this day, which directly responds to the TRC calls to action?”

“This refusal to formally acknowledge the Sept. 30th federal holiday within Alberta flies in the face of reconciliation with First Nations and shows a disdain and lack of care or respect for Alberta’s Indigenous population,” Poitras concluded.

Among the provinces not recognizing the federal holiday are Ontario and Saskatchewan. Among the cities not recognizing the statuatory holiday is the City of Edmonton.

The City of Calgary, however, has stepped up and decided to legislate the day by making it a permanent statutory holiday for all city employees.

September 30 will see the City of Calgary at reduced services and operations.

Calgary City Manager David Duckworth said, “This National Day for Truth and Reconciliation is incredibly important to reflect on a relevant issue in our society . . . It’s an opportunity for us to understand, grow and to build bridges with Indigenous people.”

The city has also announced that special events to commemorate the day will be released on its website as the date approaches.

Jacob Cardinal, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, Alberta Native News

THE KENNEY EFFECT

Burned out and demoralized: Some Alberta nurses look to leave amid province's bid to cut pay
Jennifer Lee 

© Leah Hennel/AHS A registered nurse and a volunteer with Alberta Health Services sit outside a room on an intensive care unit in May 2021, while family members behind the curtain say their goodbyes to a loved one dying of COVID-19.

After working the front lines through three gruelling waves of the pandemic, and now facing the prospect of pay cuts, some Alberta nurses say they're exhausted, demoralized and looking to get out — prompting concerns about the future of health care in the province.

"It was terrifying. … other people were told to stay home and we were told to go to work," said Edmonton emergency room registered nurse Jessica McGrath, who described facing heartbreaking scenes of patients needing to be intubated, struggling for their lives and dying alone.

"We are the ones that are seeing COVID at its worst."

But as the province emerged from its most recent COVID-19 surge — and negotiations between the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA), Alberta Health Services and Covenant Health resumed — nurses were presented with a three per cent wage rollback proposal. Including other changes, UNA argues it amounts to a five per cent cut.

"That was a huge slap in the face to a lot of us," said McGrath.

All this prompted McGrath to take a temporary one-year position — away from the front lines.

"I've never seen morale this low," she said. "We don't have the same spirit that we used to."
'I've never been more burned out'

McGrath is not alone.

A registered nurse in the emergency department at Edmonton's Royal Alexandra Hospital — which temporarily closed a number of beds recently due to staffing shortages — says she too is looking to get off the front lines.

CBC has agreed to withhold her name because she is concerned about professional repercussions.

"I've worked in this department for close to 15 years and I've never felt so physically and emotionally drained as I do now. I've never been more burned out," she said.

The Edmonton nurse reviews the AHS job board every day, looking for a position outside of the ER.

Senior staff, she said, started leaving her department about a year ago. That intensified when negotiations resumed, punctuated by the proposed wage cut.

"People have even gone into the private sector. People have taken travel nursing contracts. People need out," she said.
Nurses leaving the province

"I've never had so many conversations with my colleagues on the job postings in different provinces," said Christopher Picard, an Edmonton-based registered nurse and spokesperson for the National Emergency Nurses Association of Alberta.

He plans to wait out the negotiations but said a move out of province has been on his mind.

"Having proposed wage cuts brought in after a once in a century pandemic — it does seem like a little bit of a betrayal," he said.

"Are people having these discussions? Yeah. Are people leaving? Yeah."

© CBC Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta.

Despite these stories, Premier Jason Kenney refutes the idea that nurses are leaving.

"I wouldn't agree that people would move from Alberta to receive lower pay in other provinces and to pay higher taxes. That wouldn't add up," he said when asked by CBC News on Thursday.

"He's wrong," said Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta, the union that represents registered nurses in Alberta.

Some senior nurses have already taken jobs in B.C., according to Smith. Anecdotally, she's heard of nurses leaving for Ontario too, where some hospitals are offering signing bonuses as a recruitment incentive.

"[Alberta nurses] are just not prepared to deal with the kind of disrespect they're feeling here in the province," she said. "They want workplaces that respect them and value [their] contributions … And they're quite prepared to do it in other locations."

The frustration among nurses — who haven't had a raise for five years — is ballooning, according to Smith, who compares today's tensions with the turmoil that led to a strike in 1988 when thousands of nurses walked off the job.

"I haven't seen this kind of anger and demand for action in decades," she said.

According to Smith, there is growing support for a strike which, by law, would require several steps including formal mediation since nurses are deemed essential workers.

She said discussions about non-union-sanctioned wildcat strikes are percolating and UNA is working to set up a day of action in August — along with other health-care unions — including information pickets at hospitals around the province.

"Increasingly there are members saying, 'Why wait?'" said Smith. "But we will do everything we can to attempt to respect the process by law."

Province holds line on wage cuts

Even with the growing unrest, Jason Kenney isn't wavering.

He's made no secret of the fact he wants to balance Alberta's books and that health-care spending, which accounts for nearly 45 per cent of the provincial budget, is a prime target.

Kenney said he appreciates the hard work of nurses through the pandemic and repeated his government's stance that Alberta nurses receive on average 5.6 per cent higher compensation than those in the rest of Canada.

"Alberta has a $16-billion deficit. We've been running massive deficits for a decade. We cannot continue to do that indefinitely," he said. "This government, at least, is not going to raise taxes to punish people who've already been hurting in the private sector — so we have to learn how to operate a little more efficiently. And that's the basis of our initial position in the collective bargaining agreement."
Government actions seen as 'needlessly aggressive'

Kenney's tactics could be seen as "needlessly aggressive" at a time when support for Alberta health-care workers has skyrocketed due to the pandemic, according to Lori Williams, associate professor of policy studies at Mount Royal University.

"It looks to me like there's a lot more support for health-care workers in general than there is for the government's response to health-care workers," said Williams, pointing to the acrimonious relationship with Alberta doctors after the province tore up their master agreement last year and announced a plan last fall to lay off many as 11,000 AHS employees and outsource their jobs to private companies.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) recently went back to the bargaining table too and was presented with a wage cut proposal of its own: four per cent for general support workers.

"The government keeps saying that it appreciates the sacrifices that were made by front-line health-care workers, but doesn't indicate that by their actions," said Williams.

Kenney's methods are strikingly reminiscent of the deep health-care cuts levelled by Premier Ralph Klein during the 1990s, according to Lorian Hardcastle, associate professor specializing in health law and policy at the University of Calgary.

"I think when you cut too quickly and too deeply, you risk really destabilizing the healthcare system," said Hardcastle. "That's what we saw during the Klein years and it took subsequent governments years to rebuild that health workforce, to rebuild that health-care system. And I think we may be putting ourselves in a difficult position right now."

If the Kenney government holds the line on wage cuts for nurses, Hardcastle said the relationship between the two sides will likely grow more acrimonious and it could have lasting effects on a system already battling staffing shortages and bed closures.

"Not only will there be disruption in the short term, but [there] could be longer-term problems with recruitment and retention that affect the health-care system for many years. And that can play out in terms of longer wait times for surgeries … it can result in more hallway medicine," she said.

"And that's the sort of thing that it takes a long time to recover from and rebuild."

 

UCP has essentially seized control of all public-sector pension plans in the province

JANUARY 14, 2021

And they’re coming for the retirement nest eggs saved by Albertans through the Canada Pension Plan, too

EDMONTON - The presidents of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) and Alberta’s largest public-sector unions held a news conference today to condemn the latest actions taken by the Kenney government to effectively seize control of pension savings belonging to hundreds of thousands of Albertans.

“It’s not just the teachers’ pension plan that’s subject to the new terms imposed by the Finance Minister. They’re also going after the pensions of hundreds of thousands of Albertans working for Alberta Health Services, school boards, municipalities, the provincial government and universities and colleges,” said AFL president, Gil McGowan. “What’s happening is unprecedented, outrageous and brazen.”

The leaders at the news conference included McGowan, Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE); Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA); Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA); and Rory Gill, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Alberta Division (CUPE).

The leaders say that Ministerial Orders issued on January 4th by Alberta’s Finance Minister are essentially designed to finish the work that the government started in the fall of 2019 with the passage of Bill 22.

Bill 22 stripped all of Alberta’s public-sector pension boards of the power to choose who would manage their investments, decreeing that AIMCo – an agency that is wholly owned and controlled by the government – will be the sole monopoly provider of investment services.

What’s significant about the new Ministerial Orders is that they build on the power and control already granted by the government to AIMCo at the expense of the pension boards.

“Now, as a result of these orders, not only will AIMCo be the monopoly provider of investment management services, they will also be able to ignore the wishes of the pension plans when it comes to decisions about how the retirement savings of workers and retirees should be invested,” said McGowan.

“In other words, AIMCo and the Finance Minister will be the deciders – and the hundreds of employers and hundreds of thousands of workers who actually pay into the plans will simply have to shut up, take what they’re given and trust that the government and AIMCo will do what’s best. This paternalistic approach is entirely at odds with industry norms and with the way pensions are managed in other provinces.”

The union presidents say this is “perverse” because the money in question – more than $100 billion – doesn’t belong to the government or to AIMCo. It belongs to the more than 400,000 Albertans who have been using Alberta’s public plans, as vehicles, to save for their retirements.

“With Bill 22 and these Ministerial Orders, the Kenney government has essentially seized control of vast sums of money that is not theirs. The Finance Minister and the Premier might call this administrative reform. We call it theft,” said McGowan.

The big question is: why is the Kenney government doing this? The union leaders think they have an answer.

“We think Jason Kenney’s end game is to use the retirement savings of hundreds of thousands of Albertan to prop up oil and gas ventures in the province that are having an increasingly difficult time raising money from global investors and international markets,” said McGowan. “To be clear: we are not opposed to all oil and gas investments. What we ARE opposed to is a system in which the government gives itself the power to invest other people’s money in risky ventures without their permission.”

The union leaders said they will respond to the UCP’s “pension theft” with a legal challenge and an aggressive member campaign to pressure MLAs. They will also campaign against government efforts to pull Alberta out of the Canada Pension Plan (CPP).

“We think what we’re witnessing with these ministerial orders is just part of Jason Kenney’s grand vision. We think the UCP is also set on seizing the retirement money that all Albertans save through CPP and handing it over to AIMCo under similar terms that have now been imposed on public-sector pension plans.”

A full copy of McGowan’s remarks can be found here.

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