Edmonton health workers demonstrate outside Misericordia Hospital; union says contract negotiations have stalled

Health-care workers with Covenant Health rallied outside the Misericordia Hospital in west Edmonton Monday afternoon.

The demonstrators tell CityNews both parties are far apart on negotiations for a new contract.

Members of Alberta’s largest union and employees at Catholic health-care provider Covenant Health are calling attention to wages and working conditions as they negotiate a new contract with their employer.

Nadine Dubeau, a licenced practical nurse for 15 years, says she’s making less money but asked to do more compared to those in other provinces.

“I’m new to Alberta, moved here five years ago,” said Dubeau, who works in the ER at Misericordia. “I was in Saskatchewan for 11 years prior to that. When I left Saskatchewan, I was making $36.63 an hour. I moved here for a $2 an hour pay cut. The scope of practice has increased tremendously.

“The workload is also very stressful. I see so much patients coming in for minor things, when that could easily be treated by more family doctors. They need to focus on family doctors, nurse practitioners, even a minor emergency clinic opening up.”

As negotiations continue between Covenant Health and the province, the vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) confirms the parties are not close.

“Regardless of who signs the paychecks in this province, every single one of our bargaining units has received the same proposal from the employer, which is an abysmal 7.5 per cent over four years,” said Bobby-Joe Borodey. “We’ve asked for a very conservative 35 per cent over two years. That is to keep up with inflation, and to account for the last few contracts. These members have taken next to nothing.”

In an email, Alberta’s minister of finance says the union’s position on wages is “extreme” and called their offer fair.

“The Alberta government approaches bargaining and wages from an evidence-based perspective,” the statement said, in part. “To do this, we look at similar jobs across the country to determine fair market wages. Looking across Canada, we do not see any publicly funded employees receiving the type of settlement AUPE is demanding.”

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Alberta has a few collective agreements up for negotiation this year. Members from the Canadian Union of Provincial Employees (CUPE) demonstrated in solidarity Monday afternoon; they are not ruling out the possibility of a strike.

“I’ve been president of this union for 15 years and I have always been strongly against striking because I don’t think it’s a win-win for anyone. However, the government has snubbed us to the point where we have to take this action,” said Patsy Lenz with CUPE 2111.