A UNA Day of Action Rally takes place on Saturday afternoon outside city hall.--News Photo Anna Smith
asmith@medicinehatnews.com
Health-care workers and their families took to the downtown sidewalks on Saturday, an echo of the start of the famous 1988 UNA strike.
The rally, headed by the United Nurses of Alberta as part of a province-wide date of action, had members braving the chill outside city hall as they carried signs to show support for safe staffing, safe patient care, public health care and a call for respect for frontline health-care workers.
They were joined by AUPE and CUPE members, including Curtis Jackson, AUPE vice-president for the South region.
“It’s good to see our labour allies putting together something like this,” said Jackson. “An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us, so AUPE is really proud to be down here supporting UNA.”
The turnout was strong despite the weather, said UNA Local 70 President Bonna Bitz, and they were pleased to see the level of public support at a time when health-care needs all the support it can get.
“It’s a morale booster, because we know that we have public,” said Megan Eggans, UNA Local 70 chapter vice-president. “Sometimes it’s hard to see that in this time and age, if the public does back up the public sector workers or not. And I just feel really supported. We’re also commemorating the 1988 strike.”
Currently, UNA is in formal mediation in regards to contract negotiations, and while the outlook among workers is somewhat grim, events like this help remind both them and passersby what they’re fighting for, such as safe staffing and better conditions to allow for better patient care.
“It’s stagnant at the bargaining table. But that isn’t stopping workers in this province from doing things like they’re doing today, getting together, putting their boots on the ground, and really standing up to show what their mettle is,” said Jackson. He continued to point out that there are 250,000 workers in bargaining this year, and expressed optimism in the power of that solidarity.
Bitz said that with the current atmosphere in health care with the continued separation, health-care workers were not feeling supported or listened to, but events like this certainly remind them of what they’re fighting for as they move into the next steps of bargaining.
