By AFL Staff

In a dramatic two-day strike, ten thousand health care workers have defied Alberta’s anti-labour laws and won a landmark settlement. The workers, members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, came from four different bargaining units spread across 180 work sites.

Former AUPE representative Winston Gereluk observed the strike closely and says that the key to victory was plain old-fashioned labour solidarity. "It was amazing to see how four different groups of workers, with different demands and priorities, stuck together in the face of government threats and employer bullying. It was this mutual support that gave the strike its impact. Without the leverage provided by a province-wide shut-down, the union wouldn’t have been able to achieve the results it did."

Solidarity in the strike extended beyond AUPE members. On May 24th, the first day of the job action, CUPE locals at the Misericordia, Sturgeon and Leduc hospitals walked out in support. This marked the first occasion since the Calgary laundry workers strike of 1995 that members of different unions have acted jointly in an illegal strike situation.

Gereluk says the strike sends a message to employers in the province: "The days when employers could hide behind Alberta’s anti-union labour laws and refuse to bargain fairly with their workers are officially over! You can no longer prevent workers from fighting for their rights just by declaring their strike illegal.

"At two affected sites, Alberta Hospital Edmonton and Alberta Hospital Ponoka, employees did have the legal right to strike. When the government tried to delay the walkout at these two sites by appointing a Disputes Inquiry Board, the AUPE members in these hospitals elected to join the illegal strike rather than allow themselves to be separated from their fellow workers."

The settlement, obtained despite the threat of massive fines and imprisonment for the union and its leaders, provided increases of 8-to-16% on the grid over a two year agreement. Support workers also won critically important "no-contracting-out" language.

The employer, The Provincial Health Authorities of Alberta (PHAA) appeared to be surprised by the breadth and strength of the strike. In the weeks leading up to the walkout, PHAA had invested in a massive province-wide advertising campaign designed to turn the public against the workers and to intimidate the union.

This PR campaign seems to have failed in both its aims. Workers on picket lines all across Alberta expressed gratitude for the support they received from the public. In Edmonton one group of picketers were surprised and pleased by a friendly wave and a blast on the siren from a passing police car!

While the strike ended in a resounding victory for the workers and their union, reaction from the government and the employer has been swift and harsh. Contempt of court charges were filed against the union and its leadership. These resulted in a $400,000 fine for AUPE, with the presiding judge expressing disappointment that he couldn’t sentence AUPE president Dan MacLennan to a term of imprisonment. In addition, PHAA is threatening to seek further penalties for AUPE in front of the Labour Relations Board.

Unions from across Canada have promised support for AUPE, and the union has received a flood of messages from union members and ordinary citizens in all parts of the country. The recent debate on Bill 11 has made the rest of Canada look very carefully at what is happening to health care in Alberta. The fact that health care workers in this province are forced to resort to illegal strike action in order to get fair treatment is another sign that the health care system in Alberta is in crisis.