Swan Evergreen Village latest facilty to be organized by AUPE
EDMONTON – Another group of continuing-care workers has turned to the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) to secure better standards of care for residents and better workplace conditions.
Workers at Swan Evergreen Village by Origin have voted overwhelmingly to join AUPE, which represents 95,00 workers, including 55,000 in health care. The Alberta Labour Relations Board has recognized the union as the bargaining agent for all 165 staff at the facility, which offers independent living, assisted living, and memory care in southwest Calgary.
“This is not an isolated incident,” says AUPE vice-president Bobby-Joe Borodey. “In these challenging times in continuing and long-term care, more and more workers are turning to AUPE to protect themselves and the residents for whom they care.”
In the last two years, workers at the following sites have also joined AUPE:
• Revera McConachie Gardens, Edmonton;
• Masterpiece Southland Meadows, Medicine Hat;
• Chartwell Emerald Hills, Sherwood Park;
• Whitehorn Village (nursing-care workers), Calgary, a sister site to Evergreen Swan operated by Origin;
• AgeCare Seton, Calgary; and
• Revera Our Parent's Home, Edmonton.
“Like workers at all these facilities, the staff at Swan Evergreen care deeply for the residents,” says Borodey. “They know that poor working conditions mean poor care for residents. That’s why they stood up and said things needed to change and the AUPE was the best way to get that change.”
Issues raised by Swan Evergreen staff included short staffing; workload; safety; no wage raises as the cost of living continues to rise; holiday and overtime pay not being paid appropriately; and unprofessional behaviour by management, including yelling at staff.
“Continuing-care operators in the private for-profit sector, the not-for-profit sector and the public sector need to understand that AUPE will fight for workers and for residents. We stand up for what’s right and we have power. It’s called solidarity – and it works.”
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AUPE VP Bobby-Joe Borodey is available for comment.
For more information, please contact communications officer Terry Inigo-Jones at t.inigo-jones@aupe.org or 403-831-4394.