CANADIAN LABOUR- ALBERTA:

ALBERTA NURSES CONSIDER OPTIONS IN FACE OF ROLL BACKS:

There was once a bumper sticker current in Alberta that read (more or less) 'Oh Lord Grant Us another Boom And We Promise Not To Bugger It Away Again'. Well...this sticker was current before the most recent boom, and, of course, it was buggered away once again. In a last ditch effort the Alberta government tried to apply higher royalty rates on the oil industry just as the financial crisis was breaking. To say the least this didn't lead to increased government revenue, though how much was because of royalty rates and how much was because of the economic downturn may be a matter of eternal dispute. The hike in rates didn't work, and now Alberta has gone from flush to bust, and they have to live with the deficits that other provinces in Canada have had to endure for decades. In an attempt to recover financial probity the Conservative government of Alberta resorts to the usual mechanism of all conservative governments ie "make the working class pay". One recent victim of this strategy is the nurses of Alberta. Here's a story from the Edmonton Sun about what the Alberta government wants and what the nurses of Alberta think of it.

ALALALALALALALALALAL

Nurses reeling from proposed rollbacks
By SHAWN LOGAN and FRANK LANDRY QMI Agency
Alberta nurses say morale has flat-lined after a tough opening salvo in contract negotiations with the province’s health board.

United Nurses Association president Heather Smith said while union negotiators had anticipated some rollbacks as talks began Monday, there was no way to anticipate the magnitude of proposed cuts that she said marks the most significant contract surgery she has seen in 25 years.

“This is an out of the blue punch in the gut,” she said Tuesday. “For whatever reason, Alberta Health Services wanted to be provocative and some would say insulting.”

The union, which represents 24,000 registered nurses, will see its contract expire at the end of March.

Smith said AHS has proposed rollbacks in all but 10 of 44 negotiating areas including: reducing time off between shifts from 15.5 to 10 hours, elimination of the requirement to have a nurse in charge of every unit, allowing casual workers to be terminated without cause, as well as trimming RRSPS, vision care, and long-term service retention payments.

Smith said it’s too early to consider the possibility of strike action with a second round of talks scheduled to begin March 17, but she noted miffed nurses will be mulling their options.

“If Alberta Health Services isn’t prepared to negotiate an agreement, the membership will have to decide what it’s prepared to do,” she said.

Ken Hughes, chairman of the Alberta Health Services board, refused to comment on the negotiations but told an Edmonton Chamber of Commerce luncheon that AHS will follow a number of “guiding principles” in talks. ( The dog speaks to its master- Molly )

The UNA has asked for a two-year deal with a 4% raise in each year while AHS’s four-year proposal calls for two years of no pay increases followed by two more cost of living raises.

CANADIAN LABOUR:

HEALTH CARE GOALS AS SEEN BY NURSES:

The following article is from the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), and it is about a position paper recently presented to the meeting of the Council of the Federation in Québec City. The paper, prepared by the Canadian Federation of Nurses' Unions and the Féderation interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec, gives the "view from the floor" of where Canada's health care system should go. The federal Conservative government would be expected to be particularly deaf to such practical proposals, but it is important that the public know about the alternatives.

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CUPE supports nurses’ stance on health care:

A national pharmacare program, cautious and transparent spending of public funds, retention and renewal of Canada’s health care workforce – these are some of the most salient issues identified by a health professionals’ think-tank held in concurrence with the Council of the Federation meeting in Québec City this week.

The think-tank, chaired by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions and the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec, released a document, titled “Achieving Our Health Care Vision: Key Considerations for Premiers”.

The document highlights the following considerations for premiers:

-Privatization and public-private partnerships endanger our public health care system.-Retention and renewal of Canada’s health care workforce needs to be addressed.

-A national pharmacare program is key to keeping health care costs manageable.

-Canadians expect wise, prudent and cautious spending of public funds. Greater transparency and informed public debate are needed about how health care dollars are spent.

CUPE National President Paul Moist attended the nurses’ think-tank on Wednesday, July 16. The key considerations put forth by the resulting document complement CUPE’s own concerns about quality public health care.

The Canadian Federation of Nurses and the Federation interprofessionnelle de la santé du Quebec represent over 215,000 health care professionals across Canada.

USA:

SUPPORT NURSES ON STRIKE AT APPALACHIAN HEALTH CARE:

Many years ago the United Mine Workers in the USA built hospitals in areas that had none to support their local communities and to provide health care to those who had none. In the 1970s the UMW divested themselves of these nine regional hospitals in the Appalachian area of Kentucky and West Virginia, selling them to the Appalachian Regional Health System. The story is an old one, as once vibrant member, community or worker controlled coops become ossified and fall under the rule of the managerial ruling class, embodied in this case by a supposed arms-length agency of the government. The nurses at these nine hospitals have been represented by the Kentucky Nurses' Association since the change over.

For over a month now nurses at these hospitals have been on strike. They are calling for public support by asking you to write to the President/CEO of the Appalachian Regional Health System stating your support for their demands and asking him to negotiate a fair contract. More than 630 nurses have had their pay cut by 10%. This case was arbitrated, and the nurses were upheld. Management refused to abide by the arbitration and appealed to federal court. Since this move nurses have gone on strike. The management has refused to address matters of pay, mandatory overtime and staffing ratios and has responded by hiring scabs. Actions such as these affect not just the nurses but the patients as well, as management attempts to create what is really an understaffed and overworked environment that adversely affects patient care. The nurses are asking for your support. To join this campaign go to:

http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/nurses_kywv?sd9pdi8ij5?