Alberta cuts number of bargaining units in health care

Community Action, April 14, 2003

EDMONTON -- The Alberta government introduced changes to the provincial labour laws to change bargaining in the healthcare sector in that province.

The amendments 1, Bill 27, the Labour Relations (Regional Health Authorities Restructuring) Amendment Act, will

* create four bargaining units for nurses, auxiliary nurses, paramedical, professional and technical services and general support services;

* reduce the number of separate collective bargaining agreements to 36 from the current 400;

* require all health care workers in similar jobs in the same health region to negotiate as a unit while removing nurse practitioners from collective bargaining altogether.

Nurse practitioners will effectively become contract employees, who will negotiate individual contracts with the health regions "for more flexible working hours and conditions."

The amendments, aiming to provide a "common process to resolve labour disputes" within the sector, will outlaw strikes or lockouts. Currently about 90 percent of health care workers are deemed to provide essential services and thus, are unable to engage in strikes or be locked out by employers.

Therefore, the remaining ten per cent, including community, mental health and homecare workers, will no longer be able to strike or be locked out under the proposed changes.

The changes also bar severance pay to employees who are moved from one regional health authority to new, larger authorities that were established by the province.

Clint Dunford, Minister of Human Resources and Employment said, "These changes will bring clarity and consistency to health bargaining for employers, employees and unions."

The United Nurses of Alberta and the Canadian Union of Public Employees, strongly oppose the proposed changes, calling it a "bullying bylaw".