By Alexander Delorme, Communications Staff
Nurses really do it all.
Everyone knows nurses are the beating heart of our health care services. But there is more to nursing than what most people think: there are technicians, support coordinators, therapists, and countless health care aides, many trained to assist with mental health, recreation, psychiatry, and more.
And yet, despite all they do, Alberta Health Services and the Government of Alberta think they deserve pay cuts and rollbacks.
“Our nursing care members are in an uproar, and rightly so. AHS and the government have shown they do not respect the work we do. Our expanded scope of practice demands a better agreement than what they have offered.”
Bargaining for the AUPE members working in AHS Nursing Care began earlier this March. While the negotiating team expected some of AHS’ proposals, many were downright shocking.
“AHS gave us the same proposals they offered most health care workers,” says AUPE Vice-President and health care aide Bonnie Gostola. “But then they added huge rollbacks and wage cuts that are truly insulting. Nursing care workers deserve so much more.”
The offer—which AHS is, of course, ordered by Premier Smith’s government to propose—starts with a paltry 7.5% total raise over four years. It all goes downhill from there.
They want to cut wages for Renal Dialysis nurses and Orthopaedic Technicians. They want to cut rests between shifts from 15 to 12.5 hours. They want nurses to work four out of every six weekends instead of three out of every five. They want banked overtime and call-back pay to disappear if they are not used, and only five vacation days—tops—to carry over if unused. And there is so, so much more.
“Our nursing care members are in an uproar, and rightly so,” says Gostola. “AHS and the government have shown they do not respect the work we do. Our expanded scope of practice demands a better agreement than what they have offered.”
If you have the chance, ask a Nursing Care member what their expanded scope of practice means to them. Their answers tell the whole story. Licensed Practical Nurses are doing more work, and different work, than ever before. Health Care Aides are doing more with less, too.
It all follows the same trend: employers across the province are asking lower-paid workers to take on the tasks formerly reserved for higher-paid classifications. But AUPE members understand the importance of equal pay for work of equal value, which is why the AHS Nursing Care negotiating team proposed wage increases in line with the work members are doing.
“Our demands are ambitious, but they are nothing short of what nursing care members deserve."
The negotiating team proposed a 25% wage increase for 2024 and a 15% increase for 2025, but it does not stop there. The team is also asking for a 15% to 20% increase to account for their increased scope of practice. Raises like this are the bare minimum needed to catch up with the reality members are facing today.
To top it off, the team is also asking for COLA, or Cost of Living Adjustments, which essentially means wages that keep up with inflation.
The AHS Nursing Care team has made many more important proposals, but the bottom line is simple: if members want the raises and improved working conditions they deserve, they are going to have to fight for it.
“Our demands are ambitious, but they are nothing short of what nursing care members deserve,” says Gostola. “Our next bargaining meetings are scheduled for April 17 and 18. That’s the time to wear red and show AHS we give a damn about collective bargaining.”