On April 1, 2021 your union signed Memorandums of Agreement (MoA) with Covenant Health on behalf of both General Support Services (GSS) and Nursing Care (NC) members. Your bargaining committees agreed to these MOAs in good faith and on the clearly expressed condition the parties would recommence bargaining in July 2021.
Your bargaining committee took the employer at their word (contained in a signed, legal document) that the employer would be prepared to come to the bargaining table in July. We are extremely upset and frustrated that we held up our end of the MOAs but the employer refuses to do the same.
The employer claims that pandemic management requires all of their attention, to which we respond, “Hogwash!” Your negotiating team members have experienced up front and close the harsh realities of the pandemic. We are literally on the frontline caring for Albertans. It is absurd and insulting to suggest that the employer’s negotiating committee can’t tear themselves away from pandemic response to get back to the table.
Numerous other employers have managed to bargain over the past year. Both Covenant Health and AUPE are technologically savvy enough to bargain remotely, and the employer has had months to plan to ensure it honoured its commitment on July dates. This isn’t a matter of ability; it’s a matter of the employer showing brazen disrespect for both the collective bargaining process and the frontline health care heroes who have been responsible for mitigating the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
That the employer has more than enough resources to outsource laundry workers’ jobs and continue with their day-to-day march towards contracting out and privatization while claiming not to have the resources to negotiate a collective agreement is an insult to our collective intelligence. Remember this the next time they publicly hail front line healthcare workers as “heroes."
Your negotiating team is as frustrated as you are. The employer backing out of bargaining dates at the last minute is further demonstration of their disdain for frontline health care workers and the important work each of you do.
As a result of the employer's refusal to provide July bargaining dates as agreed to in the MOAs, AUPE will be filing a complaint with the Alberta Labour Relations Board. We will keep you updated as that progresses.
Please consider wearing Blue on Fridays and Black on Thursdays to show solidarity and support for your bargaining committee and fellow workers. You can download a copy of the Blue Friday poster here. And the Black Thursday poster here.
If you have any questions about this bargaining update, please contact a member of your negotiating team.
Covenant Health GSS Negotiating Team
Lorie Christenson, lcc44local40@hotmail.com
Corey Kucher, cjkucher@gmail.com
Christee Langkamp, christeelangkamp@gmail.com
Covenant Health NC Negotiating Team
Local 040
Kathy Bandmann, kbandmann@hotmail.com
Bev Hill, bhill3095@gmail.com
Local 046
Mary Watson, maynayvatson@hotmail.com
Laura Johnstone, johnstone_laura@hotmail.com
AUPE Resource Staff
Chris Dickson, Negotiator - c.dickson@aupe.org
Madelaine Sommers, Organizer - m.sommers@aupe.org
Michelle Szalynski, Organizer - m.szalynski@aupe.org
Mimi Williams, Communications – m.williams@aupe.org