Friends,

I recently had the honour of standing, united with leaders from AUPE, CUPE and UNA to insist on a meeting with the new Premier and her reappointed Health Minister. It was an impressive show of solidarity as representatives of approximately 122,000 frontline health-care workers spoke with one voice. The message garnered a lot of media attention; however, it fell on deaf ears at the legislature.

We included a time frame for a response which has been exceeded with no word from the Premier or the Minister. It’s too bad because we have a plan to fix the health-care crisis for all Albertans. The focus is you and your solutions to the staffing issue. We must be doing more to improve working conditions so we can retain the people we have. And it means no more failed, expensive experiments with privatization. We must be expanding the public system.

The rejection of our offer to help fix the crisis in health care means we must continue to raise awareness of the issues we are facing on the frontline. We have been raising the alarm for a long time now and the shift in public opinion is turning. Recent polls show health care is top of mind for Albertans as we head into an election year. We will be working to keep it that way.

As we are seeing in Ontario, when we stick together, we have the power to sway governments. We must be always on our guard to maintain and improve the protections we have earned and that are our rights – safe workplaces and job and retirement security. These are things we must be constantly vigilant about. A few weeks ago, the board of LAPP met and I’m happy to report our pension plan is secure and funded. But the previous UCP Premier and that finance minister went after public sector pensions, and we need to be prepared for this Premier and the same finance minister to do the same.

Just as we have swayed public opinion to make health care the number one issue in Alberta so must we stand up for the principles and values of our union.

In solidarity,

Mike

Hello everyone,

We are seeing unprecedented times as health-care professionals and we are now seeing unprecedented times as a union. The attack on the most basic rights of workers in Ontario is a warning to unions across the country. Our rights to collective bargaining, organizing and taking job action are at risk.

But, as we have also seen in Ontario, when we stand strong and united, we can force governments to change course. Getting the Ford government to reverse course and withdraw legislation aimed at taking away our rights is a victory. But it doesn’t mean the work is over. Now is the time to strengthen our resolve here in Alberta as we are still dealing with the damaging effects of this government’s Bill 32 which limits union activities.

We must also continue to offer solutions to the crisis in health care. We have a plan. A plan that would benefit all health-care workers in the province. The first step is to get more front-line health-care professionals so Albertans can get the care when and where they need it. That means improving working conditions, so we keep more of the people we have on the job. Then we boost recruitment through recently negotiated initiatives like the rural capacity committee. The committee and the funding that comes with it will help to overcome the staffing crisis in rural Alberta. Our ideas to retain the professionals we have and recruit more need to be implemented and we will continue to offer them up as politicians continue their campaigning.

We also need to keep alerting Albertans to the state of their health-care system. We need to keep showing them how the public system has been neglected in favour of using public money to pay for more expensive and less efficient private options. We do that by telling more of your stories, starting with this month’s newsletter. We’ll see the real effects of the neglect the public system has been subjected to.

Your stories are the most effective way of communicating with Albertans. They know we are the experts in health care that they trust. Sharing our stories with each other strengthens our bond as union members. So, please… share your stories with us at [email protected]. Let’s show people what’s being done to their health-care system.

Unprecedented times call for an unprecedented response. As we are seeing in Ontario… when we work together, we can continue to protect our basic union rights. We can also use the same power to improve working conditions for all health-care workers and fix health care for everyone.

In solidarity,

Leanne

While the provincial government was making it easier for patients to be sent to private DI providers, the public system’s equipment has been left to fall apart.

The hospital where this member works has had two imaging rooms decommissioned. The equipment they have left to work with is past its end-of-life – 2 X-ray machines in the emergency area. These 2 machines break every other week and they pick and pull pieces to try to keep the emergency machines running if they have to wait for parts.

The member tells us, “We MRTs try, as professionals, to give the patient an authentic experience, with them seeing us do our best with what we have to work with. In all of my career, I have never had to work with such outdated, broken-down junk. And yet somehow, we make it work.”

Like all health-care disciplines, there are days when they are so short-staffed that imaging areas have had to close or be consolidated in emergency. “It must have been horrible for patients having to be portered between buildings to get an X-ray,” continued the MRT, “I write to draw attention to the dreadful condition of imaging equipment within a world-class trauma centre.”

“The love of my profession and union is also why I write to you,” concluded the member. “Please remember the hardship of the MRT profession. Our employers tell us we are appreciated but can not follow those words with any meaningful actions.”

If you would like to help raise the alarm and have a story you want people to know about send it to us at [email protected].

The deadline for the Winter Part-time Bursary application is November 30. You can submit for yourself or a spouse/dependant taking part-time post-secondary studies leading to a diploma, degree or certificate. Guidelines and the online application form are available here.

Reminder: If you received the Fall Part-time Bursary, your proof of enrolment form is required by November 30 for the bursary to be release to you or your spouse/dependant.

If you were successful in the draw for the George C. Hall Bursary for the Sept. 2022-April 2023 school year, your proof of enrolment form is required by November 30 for the bursary to be release to you or your spouse/dependant.

Keep in mind, applications for next year's full-time enrolment (2023-24) can be submitted via the online application.

Are you currently enrolled in courses, seminars, exams or conferences related specifically to your discipline? Or maybe you're pursuing education related to unionism or social justice? HSAA members in good standing can apply for the Dell Taylor Memorial Education Fund (up to $200 per fiscal year for discipline-related education) or the Labour Relations Fund (up to $300 per fiscal year for labour relations, unionism and social justice education).

This fund can be accessed multiple times to a lifetime maximum of $2,000 per member. The fund is intended as a last resort for members experiencing emergent situations only. Typically, these are unanticipated life events that are beyond a person's control. Full information on the criteria for applications for this fund can be found here.