Public sector workers in Medicine Hat march on the sidewalk outside of the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital Monday morning. Workers were rallying against Bill 9 and cuts announced in the provincial budget. - Photo by Ross Lavigne

By Charles Lefebvre (CHAT News)

Medicine Hat

Public sector workers rally against Bill 9 outside Medicine Hat hospital

Oct 29, 2019 | 8:15 AM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — Public sector workers in Medicine Hat rallied to raise awareness of issues their industry is facing on Monday.

Approximately 75 workers, including nurses, EMS, laboratory technicians, and other hospital workers, walked outside the Medicine Hat Regional Hospital during their lunch breaks Monday morning and afternoon, saying the services they provide are at risk.

Unions participating includes the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) and the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA).

“We have to stick together as unions, because this government is, they’re out to get us,” said John Terry, a local nurse and executive with the local chapter of the UNA. “They’ve actually declared war on us, with the Blue Panel report and talking about rollbacks.”

The concerns for many of the unions related to Bill 9, which was passed by the United Conservative Party this summer, and delayed wage arbitration talks until after October 31.

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Rallies against the bill have been organized by public sector workers across Alberta.

“This government is using legislation to go into our collective agreements, and allow them to remove language from our collective agreements,” said Mike Parker, president of HSAA. “Bill 9 removes our wage re-opener, and it’s a fundamental attack on the agreements we signed with our employers.”

CHAT News reached out to Finance Minister Travis Toews, but he was not available for a one-on-one phone interview.

Jerrica Goodwin, a spokesperson with the Minister’s office, provided CHAT News with a statement.

“Government has been clear that Bill 9 was a temporary pause to allow us the time to prudently and responsibly understand Alberta’s full economic picture before making key decisions that impact taxpayers and workers,” the statement reads. “We have a clear picture now of the severe economic conditions the previous government left us with and the need for wage restraint. This information will inform government’s position when the arbitrations continue after the October 31 delay period established by Bill 9 expires.”

It isn’t just Bill 9 public sector workers at the rally were worried about. The budget tabled last week noted cuts to public sector positions are coming.

According to the budget, approximately 764 full-time equivalent jobs in the public sector will be removed in the coming year, and 7.7 per cent of the public service will be cut over the next four years. The majority of the cuts are expected to come through attrition.

Parker, along with Susan Slade with AUPE, says the cuts could have an impact in not only how front line services are delivered, but also have an impact on communities the workers live and work in.

“We are on the front lines in health care, but we also live in this province, and when you see a reduction in access to services, it harms all Albertans,” Parker said.

“It doesn’t just affect the front line workers, it affects the communities they live in,” Slade added. “If you are looking at cuts and people losing jobs, it’s not just going to affect the economy of their households, but the economy of the whole entire city.”

Terry says he is concerned there will be a shortage of nurses in the province in the coming years, especially as the older generation is retiring.

“If nurses are entering university, and thinking that there’s not going to be a future for them, they’re just going to get their education-which is a very high level of education- in Alberta, and then they’re going, they’re leaving, and they’re not going to come back,” he said. “And we’re going to find ourselves in a big crunch again.”