Staff and submitted
Health care workers employed in general support roles at the Rimbey Community Health Centre and the Rimbey Hospital and Care Centre have voted to join the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE).
“Decision-making has been increasingly centralized under the authority of Alberta Health Services,” said AUPE Organizer Dave Malka. “That change is part of the reason these workers decided to seek the benefits, security and representation that a strong union like AUPE can offer on the worksite and at the bargaining table.”
At one time Rimbey's health care facilities fell under the authority of the David Thompson Health Region until the provincial government centralized health care management under Alberta Health Services.
The 60 workers involved were certified in a March 11 vote on their worksites that was supervised by the Alberta Labour Relations Board.
“As health regions have gotten bigger and are now run out of the cities there was a sense among these workers that it was time to make AUPE their official bargaining agent,” Malka added. “They wanted to know their benefits and rights would be protected by a collective agreement and not just followed at a manager's discretion. The result was strong support for union certification on the worksite.”