Healthy Debate

Well, it’s been quite the summer.  I hope that all of you had an opportunity to take some well earned vacation, and perhaps to find some summer weather, given how little of it we saw here.

I had the incredible opportunity to join the ‘Ride for Africa’ on its climb of Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, and at the same time raise some funds for two grassroots projects in Africa.  The ‘Ride’ connected with ‘Hands Across Africa’, a charitable group that has its genesis with HSAA members. 

Money is still coming in, so the final total is, as yet, unknown.  My profound thanks to all contributors, individual and organizational, identified and anonymous, who helped me and the other climbers to reach their fundraising goals of $2000 each. 

The climb was tough, but I think acting as Director of the annual Alberta Federation of Labour’s ‘Kids’ Camp’ may have been tougher.  However, the amazing volunteers, including five connected to HSAA, made that five day adventure a lot of fun, and quite gratifying.  Kudos also to the AFL staff who did the yeoman’s work of organizing the myriad of details prior to the camp; Kevin Flaherty of the Alberta Workers’ Health Centre who created fun and interactive curriculum to introduce the youngsters to occupational health and safety, the staff at Goldeye Centre and the Centre for Outdoor Education in Nordegg, and the Greyhound bus drivers who got the 105 kids there and home safely. 

Meanwhile, back at the office, staff have been busy effecting the integration of the EMS and former AADAC workers who have been taken over by Alberta Health Services.  Transition negotiations are under way, and new HSAA members have opportunities to learn about their new union through a number of workshops. 

Other efforts include work with pharmacy technician members who will become regulated professionals in the near future.  While technicians support regulation, the process that has been developed to qualify them for licensure is demanding and quite costly.  HSAA has been advocating on a number of fronts to advocate on behalf of the members, and these efforts continue.

Preparations for our Labour Relations Confernence in October are well under way, and I encourage as many of our members as possible, and particularly local unit representatives, to attend, as the conference will be part of the preparations to lead into the upcoming round of provincial bargaining (and therefore has implications for all agreements).

And finally, for this post, we have once again seen the wrath of nature.  Pakistan is still reeling from historic flooding.  Millions are homeless, and the need for the most basic human necessities is dire.  I’ve heard friends and family express their concerns about foreign aid being misdirected, and the reality that there will be some corruption.  That is a reality, but surely we cannot accept that as a reason not to make an effort.  The HSAA board will have Pakistan on its agenda next week, to determine our organization’s response. Clearly the need will be ongoing for a long time, so we can wait until our regular meeting.  For individuals, however, there is an urgency.  The federal government will match your individual donations until September 12, so I encourage all of us to dig as deep as we can to help ease the misery.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 7th, 2010 at 5:26 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.