By Terry Inigo-Jones, Communications Staff
If there’s one thing you can say about AUPE members, it’s that they’re creative.
When members started a campaign to wear red at work and support their bargaining teams, members all over the province took that idea and ran with it.
“In hospitals, in care centres, in government offices – wherever members work, they created seas of red,” says AUPE Vice-President Sandra Azocar.
Some workplaces have strict clothing requirements or require uniforms that make it difficult to put on a red shirt, but do you think that stopped AUPE members? No.
Local 057 Chair Andrew Wilson takes up the story. His members work in General Support Services (GSS) for Alberta Health Services (AHS) in central Alberta.
“The uptake has been very good,” says Wilson. “Members have been getting creative, too.”
Workers in food services at Lacombe Hospital and Care Centre are required to wear hair nets. So Jules Noel, the Chapter 013 Chair, found and bought red hair nets for everyone. Wearing red hair-nets soon spread to members at the Ponoka Hospital and Care Centre.
But wait! There’s more.
A member who works in maintenance acquired some red flagging tape, the plastic tape normally used to attach to long loads in the back up pickup trucks.
“You could tie it around a belt loop, or you could have it tucked into a button on your pocket, short enough that it was safe, but it was just a real, cheap easy like, zero-work solution,” says Wilson.
“We know that these small actions are working. We hear from work sites across Alberta that employers are taking notice of these displays of solidarity.”
These small, easy measures had an impact.
“It was visible and it was out of the ordinary,” he says. “So, people were asking: ‘What is that for? Why do you have a piece of red tape hanging on your belt loop?’ And it wasn't just other members or our co-workers, it was members of the public that were at our facilities, going: ‘Hey, what's that for?’ It got us talking about bargaining and showing support for our teams.”
One manager in Ponoka, looking a little scared, asked the chapter chair what was going on.
Wilson laughs. “The chapter chair just said we're wearing red to support our bargaining,” he says. “And the manager is like, but why are so many people doing it?”
Vice-President Azocar says: “We know that these small actions are working. We hear from work sites across Alberta that employers are taking notice of these displays of solidarity.”
Now, the red campaign is moving on to next steps.
“Rather than wearing red only on days when their negotiating teams are in bargaining, members are being asked to wear red frequently, even every day,” she says.
AUPE is encouraging members to display its “WE SUPPORT PUBLIC SERVICES” lawns signs at their homes. These, too, will show solidarity and spark conversations with neighbours.
Meanwhile, AUPE members are holding dozens of rallies all over the province, building up to big events in September. Stay tuned for details.
Azocar says that these rallies show employers and all Albertans that bargaining this time isn’t about one employer, or one workplace. It’s about all of us.
“This time, with 82,000 members negotiating new contracts at the same time, it’s about all of us. It’s about supporting each other so we all get what we deserve in the next contracts.”
She adds: “When we tell our story to Albertans, they are on our side. They use the public services we provide, they need health care, they have family members in the education system. They see how hard we work for them and they value what we do. They understand that our claims in bargaining are reasonable.”