United Nurses of Alberta members held an information picket outside of the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Grande Prairie Wednesday (Photo: Shaun Penner / EverythingGP)

By Abby Zieverink

Protesting wage rollbacks

UNA holds information picket outside QEII amid ongoing wage negotiations

Aug 11, 2021 | 4:35 PM

United Nurses in Alberta marched outside the QEII hospital in Grande Prairie Wednesday, August 11, protesting the provincial government’s proposed salary rollbacks.

Grande Prairie was one of the 25 communities across Alberta where the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) marched outside hospitals, raising their concern about how understaffing, bed closures, and rollbacks will affect patient care.

United Nurses of Alberta Local 207 President Jerry MacDonald says the government’s proposed rollbacks include cuts to their salary and collective agreement. He says he wants the general public to know what is happening with their negotiations.

“This government is asking nurses who have been the pandemic heroes for the last 16 plus months to take a pay cut. To take huge rollbacks in our collective agreement… To take away provisions that have been protecting patient’s safety since 1997, to take away working conditions that protect nurses’ life, work, work-life balance, and family life that have been working since the 1960s.”

MacDonald says because of the nursing shortages, emergency rooms shutting down, and beds closing in rural hospitals across the province. He suggests because of the shortages, nurses are forced to work longer days and weeks without time off.

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“We’re the people here looking after people day in and day out…24/7…365 and this is not the way to treat people who have gotten us through this pandemic….and by the way, this pandemic is not over yet,” expressed MacDonald.

“We have nurses who are working day in and day out and who have difficulty getting time off to spend time with their families and recover from the stress of the pandemic,” he adds.

MacDonald says the rollbacks proposed will only make healthcare worse for Albertans.

“People aren’t getting the type of health services they need and if they are getting them. They’re waiting longer than they deserve, and people in the rural areas and the north are suffering more because it’s harder to recruit into the north.”

Minister of Treasury Board and Finance Travis Toews issued a statement following the United Nurses of Alberta pickets saying their government appreciates the hard work of healthcare workers over the past 18 months.

“Our government is also committed to standing up for the health care system and representing the best interests of all Albertans. That’s why we have been urging both Alberta Health Services (AHS) and UNA to work towards a new collective agreement that will bring long-term labour stability to the health care system.”

Toews says the government is facing $93 billion in debt, adding over half the provinces operating budget is spent on public sector compensation.

“We must continue to find efficiencies across the public sector – it’s an essential piece to restoring fiscal health and ensuring sustainable public services.”

“We know the appreciation and respect for health care workers runs deep and wide throughout the province,” he added. “As bargaining continues, my hope is that unions and their employers can quickly come to a settlement that works for everyone, and is aligned with the fiscal realities we are facing.”

Nurses also marched outside hospitals for the UNA information pickets in Fairview, High Level, High Prairie, and Peace River.

Photo: Shaun Penner / EverythingGP staff

Photo: Shaun Penner / EverythingGP staff

Photo: Shaun Penner / EverythingGP staff