AUPE members stage first rally in Taber; more to follow in other communities

By Lethbridge Herald on June 10, 2022.

AUPE members gathered outside Taber's Linden View care facility on Tuesday afternoon to protest what they call unfair and disrespectful behaviour by their employer. SOUTHERN ALBERTA NEWSPAPERS

Front-line care workers at Good Samaritan Society facilities across Alberta are launching a fight back against what they call unfair and disrespectful behaviour by their employer.
“Nearly 1,600 members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) have been waiting almost five years to negotiate a collective agreement with the Good Samaritan Society, but the employer keeps stalling,” said Guy Smith, president of the union which represents 95,000 workers, in a press release. “It seems a mixture of incompetence and malice on behalf of the employer, but it’s the front-line workers and the residents who suffer.”
AUPE members and supporters held an information picket and rally at the Good Samaritan Society’s Linden View facility on Tuesday. Smith and AUPE vice-presidents Susan Slade and Darren Graham were in attendance. 
“These members have seen no wage increases for five years, which is especially painful with today’s soaring inflation rates. Their concerns over workplace conditions and the level of care provided to residents have been ignored,” said Smith. “To continue to stall on bargaining now, after more than two years of these workers putting their health and lives on the line during the pandemic, is insulting. It’s a shameful way to behave for an organization that claims to be faith-based.”
A total of 17 Good Samaritan sites are affected by the delay in bargaining. Without progress, AUPE says more information pickets and rallies can be expected.
Affected communities include Cardston, Edmonton, Evansburg, Lethbridge, Magrath, Raymond, Rocky Mountain House, Spruce Grove, Stony Plain, Taber and Wetaskiwin.