SUNDRE - About 40 auxiliary nursing care staff at the Sundre Seniors Supporting Living Facility have joined the province’s largest union.
The health-care workers voted earlier this month to join the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) effective immediately, officials said. The workers vote was overseen by the Alberta Labour Relations Board.
Bonnie Gostola is the vice-president of the AUPE.
“We are seeing more workers turning to unions to protect their rights against continuing attacks from employers,” Gostola said in a news release.
“Front-line workers who were praised as heroes during the COVID-19 pandemic are realizing they have real power, especially in a tight labour market. They are in no mood to accept rollbacks or unfair treatment after all they have suffered and all they have done for others over the last two years.”
Workers at the Sundre facility were part of the AUPE when it was operated by Mountain View Seniors' Housing, but nursing-care operations were handed over to Bethany Care Society in April 2021, resulting in their unionized status ending.
Bethany Care Society corporate services in Calgary did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Stacey Stilling is the board chair of Mountain View Seniors' Housing. She said MVSH does not employ the nursing staff at its lodges.
