We’ve lost enough lives. Four actions must be taken now.
CALGARY - Occupational Health & Safety Committee members of Alberta’s largest union are directing four calls-to-action at the UCP following the AgeCare takeover of Millrise on May 4 that will put pandemic prevention before last-minute intervention.
Chair of the Committee, and Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) Vice-President Bonnie Gostola says this was needed from the get go, and the outbreak at Millrise illustrates why.
“First Retirement Concepts [owner and operator of the supportive living home] was gambling with staff’s health. Now AHS is gambling with their health by passing the buck,” she said.
“The time for Band-Aid solutions in Alberta’s continuing-care is over. We need real compassionate action now.”
Gostola suspects that if AgeCare, another private for-profit giant struggling to squelch COVID-19 outbreaks at their own facilities in Brooks and Calgary, can’t contain the spread at Millrise, AHS will just have to resort to sending in more public-sector re-enforcements at the eleventh hour – workers who are needed in the hospitals right now.
“In short, the responsibility to clean up this mess is just going to keep landing on the next worker’s shoulders if early pandemic prevention isn’t prioritized. We’re calling on the Ministry of Health to commit to the following actions immediately:
- Develop a model for investigations to be conducted at all Alberta continuing-care sites to ensure employers are following AHS pandemic guidelines.
- If there are any violations, AHS takes over operations of the facility.
- If there is an outbreak, AHS takes over operations of the facility.
- Standardized pay for all care workers, in line with AHS rates.
The Committee says the reason for the fourth call-to-action is simple: “At a place like Millrise, the employer is paying staff significantly less than their fellow AUPE members at AHS. Experienced Health-care aides earning at the top of the pay grid are still making about 9% less, even though Millrise receives public funding based on AHS staff costs.
Think of all the money that could be used for sick-leave, for PPE, for frontlines resources that’s instead sitting in rich shareholders’ pockets.”
Millrise housekeepers alone are barely making above minimum age, even though they’re the workers killing this virus.
“This is how private, for-profits keep their pockets lined even during a pandemic,” says Gostola. “They send frontline staff into the middle of a fire without proper protection: without proper staffing, proper PPE and proper pay.”
“The Alberta Government has experimented enough with private, for-profit health-care. We’ve lost enough lives.”
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For more information:
Celia Shea, Communications: 780-720-8122