Healthy Debate

Privatization of health care continues.

Yesterday, HSAA learned that Outpatient Pharmacy services in Calgary will be privatized in 2010.  Shades of the Rexall takeover in Edmonton that saw members pushed to the brink of a strike earlier this year.  Clearly HSAA will do everything in its power to protect the members involved.  With then months’ notice, some, and perhaps all, of the members who are involved will fit into existing or upcoming vacancies (you know the ones, they haven’t been posted, and often look like they’ve just fallen off the face of the earth).  So at least there is some time for members to examine and exercise options. 

But the ‘chip, chip, chip’, away at public services of all kinds needs to be kept at the forefront for not only our members, but for all Albertans.  Earlier today I spoke with a woman from Calgary who is “not anybody” – a member of the public.  She certainly understood the insidiousness of a little cut here, a bit of privatization there, and the ultimate destruction of public health care and other services.  She promised that she would take action, and work to engage more members of the public. That makes her somebody!  And all of us are members of that public, with a right and a responsibility to advocate not only on our own behalf, but on behalf of all Albertans.  The Code of Conduct does not need to be a barrier! 

 Pharmacy, physio, parking services, security, radiology, lab, long term care, respiratory therapy, mental health services – get the picture?   In every one of these areas, the private sector continues to make inroads.  Friends and co-workers have lost, or will lose jobs, and there does not appear to be any sacred cow.  Today, you may be inclined to keep your head down because it isn’t your department that’s being affected.  But tomorrow it may well be. 

The Alberta Hospital Edmonton closure is another important file.  We are working in conjunction with both UNA and AUPE to campaign against the closure.  So far, we have been winning the war of public opinion.  Tens of thousands of signatures on the petition have been tabled in the Legislature.  We need to keep the pressure on. 

If you are OK today, great for you.  Please do your bit to help a sister or brother, whether they are HSAA members or not, to stay OK. 

Finally, we say goodbye to Tom Olenuk, who was the president of the Edmonton and District Labour Council until his untimely death last week.  He deserves our collective thanks for his unwavering commitment to the working people of Edmonton.  Our condolences to Tom’s family and friends. 

Wishing you a fine weekend.

Greetings. 

326 HSAA members have sent an ‘expression of interest’ for the voluntary severance program.  They have received their calculations, and now have until this coming Monday to make an irrevocable choice.  If you say you’re in, you can’t change your mind for four months, but AHS doesn’t have to make any decision until the end of that four months.  And the decision may very well be that they will not approve the severance.  In an e-mail to employees three days ago, Dr. Duckett stated that “for obvious reasons we will not reduce the  clinical workforce at this time”. 

One of the application forms indicated that the calculation would be ‘inclusive of other accruals’, leading some to think that vacation and overtime banks would be deducted.  The letter of understanding makes no such mention, and we will take the position that any accrued benefits are separate from that.  This includes eligibility for the retention bonus. Does anyone at AHS see the irony in paying people to go away and retention bonuses at the same time?  Nevertheless, they are negotiated benefits, and we will insist that you receive them, just as numerous managers in both AHS and the rest of the public service did.  The rationale was that they were a contractual obligation.  So is our contract. 

While the attention is mostly on the machinations at AHS, we have thousands of members who are outside that organization.  While these posts may seem to be unrelated to you, virtually all of our employers get AHS funding, so we know you are watching developments closely.  I look forward to your participation in our ‘healthy debate’.

To Geri- I could not get any new information about what happened to Pastoral Care at the Royal Alex.  Just that one day they were there, then they were down to two.  These services have not been part of HSAA, making our access to information limited. 

Rowdycowboy and others who may be wondering – we continue to work closely with other unions to share information and support each other.  Hope the same is happening on site.

Have a great weekend all.