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Nurses rally in Red Deer

Day of Action held on Saturday, Jan. 25

Alberta nurses rallied in Red Deer and other locations across the province in a call for respect amid contract negotiations with the provincial government.

United Nurses of Alberta hosted a Day of Action on Saturday Jan. 25 at the corner of Gaetz Avenue and 32nd Street, near the Red Deer Resort and Casino. Rallies were also held in Edmonton, Calgary, Olds, Banff, Medicine Hat, Lethbridge, St. Albert, Bonnyville, Two Hills and Slave Lake.

"This is about respect for the nurses," said Sue Beatson, president of UNA Local 2, which represents nurses at the Red Deer Regional Hospital and Michener Extendicare.

"There's a nursing shortage and this is about how to respect, recruit and retain nurses. These are things we're looking at very seriously in our current negotiations. It's also about public health care. We're the soul of public health care right now. Safe staffing is very important, because safe staffing equals safe patient care."

UNA Locals were encouraged with their members and reach out to other unions at their workplaces to hold information pickets, rallies or winter-themed events outside their worksites and in their communities on Jan. 25 to show their support for safe staffing, safe patient care and public health care, and call for respect for frontline health care workers.

"We're out here today for public awareness. It's about sharing information, being seen and being heard," said Beatson.

The presidents of Local 218, which represents nurses at the David Thompson Health Region Community, and Local 5, which represents nurses at Lacombe Hospital and Care Centre/Bentley Care Centre, were among the dozens in attendance at the Red Deer rally.

The UNA is currently negotiating the latest contract on behalf of 30,000 registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses. Negotiations began in February 2024.

"We're a resilient bunch. We're just hoping we're able to reach a fair and reasonably negotiated contract," Beatson added.

The Day of Action is happening on the anniversary of an important milestone in UNA’s history: the start of the 1988 nurses' strike, which saw more than 14,000 nurses at hospitals across Alberta walk off the job, beginning the last province-wide strike by UNA members. Nurses returned to work about three weeks later with a negotiated collective agreement.



Sean McIntosh

About the Author: Sean McIntosh

Sean joined the Red Deer Advocate team in the summer of 2017. Originally from Ontario, he worked in a small town of 2,000 in Saskatchewan for seven months before coming to Central Alberta.
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