October 2024

By Geri Ruston

Click HERE for the new spotlight on the Privatization of Healthcare in Alberta

UPDATE #15

Members of United Nurses of Alberta employed by Alberta Health Services, Recovery Alberta, Covenant Health, Lamont Health Care Centre, and The Bethany Group (Camrose) voted on Wednesday, October 30, 2024, on whether to accept the Mediator’s Recommendations for a new Provincial Collective Agreement.

To be ratified, both a majority of members and a majority of locals must approve.

The results of the vote are:

Total Voting Locals:   Yes: 60.48%   No: 39.52% 

Total Voting Members:  Yes: 38.88%   No: 61.12%

The Mediator’s Recommendations are therefore rejected.

Turnout: 100% of Locals and 75.23% of members voted.

Thank you to all UNA members who participated in this vote. UNA will soon share more information about the next steps in the bargaining process at www.una.ca.

Vote on October 30th, 2024, between 00:01 and 23:59 on whether to accept the Mediator’s Recommendations

For more information on the Mediator’s Recommendations, click HERE

For more information on how to vote, click HERE

 

If UNA has your email on file, you will receive an email from ElectionBuddy with a direct link to your ballot; you can click the link to vote. You will need your Member ID and PIN. This can all be found on your Membership Card; you can request your card here: 

https://dms.una.ca/forms/membershipcard

If you DID NOT receive an email, you can vote by going to https://vote.una.ca

At vote.una.ca you WILL NEED:

• To select your Local on vote.una.ca.
• Your Membership ID (example: 98096).
• The PIN from your Membership Card (example: PY679813)

Presumptive Legislation – What does it mean, and why are nurses asking for it?

Press HERE to watch a short 3-minute video on presumptive legislation (trigger warning: includes mental health statistics and mentions suicide)

Presumptive coverage means that the Worker’s Compensation Board will presume that a confirmed psychological or psychiatric injury arose out of and occurred in the course of employment unless there is evidence to the contrary. Presumptive coverage would apply for any psychological diagnosis following exposure to a traumatic incident at work, not just for PTSD. It includes interpersonal relations between a worker and co-workers, management, or customers that may be traumatic when they result in behaviours that are aggressive, threatening, or abusive. There is an acknowledgement that by the nature of your work, you are routinely exposed to traumatic events at work as part of routine job expectations. The traumatic events may be life-threatening, very disturbing, or stressful and can result in symptoms that are debilitating and require treatment to resolve.

The former NDP government had expanded presumptive coverage to all workers.  Presumptive coverage is now limited to firefighters, police officers, peace officers, paramedics, corrections officers, and emergency dispatchers. Presumptive legislation for nurses is a validation that we also experienced violence and trauma and, subsequently, psychological injury. Many provinces have expanded presumptive legislation to include nurses. We are demanding that Alberta follow suit. Without presumptive coverage, our nursing peers are re-traumatized to prove their claims of psychological injury to WCB and often are denied. Access to treatment is delayed or out of reach for those with denied claims. Injured nurses are forced back to work when sick time and benefits dry. If you are hurt at work, you should be entitled to compensation. Not all injuries are visible.

Click HERE for the link to the petition. Petitions must be physically printed and signed. Completed petitions will be collected by Local 196 Secretary Rachel Steel: rsteel@una.ca

Check your (personal) inbox for the Local 196 October e-Newsletter! Read about recent and upcoming events and more!

Click the link below to view the October edition of Local 196’s e-newsletter:

Local 196 UNA e-newsletter: October 2024

The Local newsletter was sent via MailChimp with updated member contact information from the Provincial UNA Office. It was sent to personal email addresses only. If you did not receive our newsletter, please update your contact information in UNA’s DMS system and email local196exec@una.ca to be added to our subscribers list. You don’t want to miss out!

• The Local MUST hold an information meeting at least 24 hours before the polls open. Local 196 is hosting our information meeting on October 28, 2024, at 1830h. Please be aware that no meal will be provided at this meeting. To attend, please register through DMS

• The polls will be open from October 30th, 2024, at 0001 hours until October 30th, 2359 hours.

• Members will go to https://vote.una.ca to vote.

• Link to the Online Calculator https://pay.una.ca

• UNA members who have provided a personal or una.ca email address will receive an email with a link from Election Buddy. Emails will not be sent to employer email addresses. Whether or not you receive an email, you can go to vote.una.ca and select your Local, then enter your Member ID and PIN from your membership card to vote.

• If you are not a member, the Local Executive will still need to approve the application per the standard Membership Application Procedure. You can apply online at una.ca

Register for the meeting in  DMS.

United Nurses of Alberta members are invited to an online town hall to ask questions about the mediator’s recommendations for a new Provincial Collective Agreement. The online town hall will be held on Thursday, October 17, from 1900 to 2100. Members are invited to submit questions in advance to respect@una.ca.

UNA members can access the mediator’s recommendation documents in the Reporting Meeting forum on UNA Forums on Zimbra.

Local 196 Office Reps have been emailed the link to distribute to members. Please contact your Office Rep if you haven’t received the email. If you don’t know who your office rep is or are new to Local 196, you can contact the Local executive directly at local196exec@una.ca.

 You must complete and submit a TD1 form before any expense can be approved or paid through UNA.