Alberta nurses might be standing on the picket line in the near future amid recent talks with the government failing because of disagreements about pay and recruitment. United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) Director of Labour Relations David Harrigan said to The Canadian Press on Thursday the talks it held with the government in September were beneficial, although the gap between the two sides was too large. “Unfortunately I think the gulf is just too big,” said Harrigan to The Canadian Press. The UNA represents more than 30,000 nurses and wants 30% pay raises over two years. Meanwhile, the Alberta government has offered 7.5% over four years. While money is one matter, Harrigan said another area the two sides are clashing over is operational issues, particularly staffing shortages and managing the workplace conditions coming from them. “I think both recognize there are some real, serious, serious problems,” he said.“It’s just that we have completely different views on how to solve those problems.”At the moment, he said the Alberta government wants to end a contract clause requiring Alberta Health Services (AHS) to try and fill job vacancies from within a bargaining unit before hiring outside candidates. It has called for the clause to not apply for one year and AHS gets to hire who it wants after that. However, he pointed out the way it should be done “is improve the job conditions and then you’ll be able to recruit people.” If it wants to improve job conditions, he said it should increase pay, as it has not kept up with inflation. “They’re having a huge recruitment problem,” he said. “Why on Earth would they think that offering people less rights and increases that are less than the cost of living would be the way to address that?”Alberta nurses have seen their salaries go up by 11.5% since 2013 and faced five years of wage freezes. With these pay increases, more than half were before 2018. While talks have stalled, UNA has set up a reporting meeting next week, allowing delegates from every local to say how it should move forward. At this meeting, Harrigan said they could decide the direction to head down could be reconsidering the Alberta government’s offer or moving to formal mediation and a possible strike. The UNA and Alberta government will have to hold formal mediation first before a strike vote happens. Since the informal mediation process was intense and unsuccessful, Harrigan said he expects the process will not last long. If a strike happens, an essential services agreement established by the two sides will ensure Albertans can obtain emergency medical care. This agreement would require certain nurses remain working during the strike to ensure people stay safe. The agreement requires they maintain open communication channels to call in more nurses if they are needed during emergencies. This ordeal comes after the UNA warned in March new continuing care regulations set to come into effect in April mean there will be no legal requirement to provide nursing care for people in these facilities. .UPDATED: Alberta nursing union says new regulations worsen continuing care .“So we are taking the care out of continuing care,” said UNA President Heather Smith. The Continuing Care Act passed in 2022, eliminating language from previous legislation identifying a minimum number of hours of nursing care that had to be provided to continuing care patients. Alberta Health could not be reached for comment in time for publication.
