2015Edition No. 3

Challenger

HSAA member’s

adventure in quake

zone

Find out why an affordable child-care plan is important

to this family and othersPage 21

Caring for our kids

All change!Read about

life in the new Alberta

Pages 14-17 Pages 5-9

2 Challenger

CONTENTS/CONTACTS

• The President’s Message .................................. Page 3• By The Numbers .................................................. Page 4• Manitoba moves on PTSD ............................... Page 4• Anti-union bill face court challenge ............ Page 4• Report on HSAA’s AGM ..................................... Page 5• AFL Kids Camp ................................................... Page 10• Barb Mikulin Award winner .......................... Page 11• CLC’s federal election message ................... Page 12• Adventure in Nepal quake zone ................. Page 14• Canada’s Rosie the Riveter ............................ Page 18• Labour-relations feature ................................ Page 20• HSAA child-care campaign ........................... Page 21• MS Bike Tour ....................................................... Page 22• Leduc Fire Cup hockey tournament .......... Page 22• HSAA history ...................................................... Page 23• Meet HSAA’s new staff .................................... Page 24• Human-rights calendar .................................. Page 25• In Memory .......................................................... Page 26• Did You Know? .................................................. Page 26• New HQ update ................................................. Page 27• Retirements ........................................................ Page 27• Upcoming workshops .................................... Page 28

Do you have an opinion on our content or an idea for a story? Contact me, Terry Inigo-Jones, HSAA communications officer, at terryi@hsaa.ca.

Challenger is a quarterly HSAA publication. Please visit our website at www.hsaa.ca where online information is updated daily.

Send advertising inquiries to terryi@hsaa.ca.

Cover Photograph FAMILY MATTERS: Faika Satterthwaite, right, led the HSAA Ad Hoc Committee on Child Care, which campaigned for an affordable child-care plan. She was inspired by her daughter, Yasemin, a single mother to three-year-old Scarlett.Photo by Terry Inigo-Jones, HSAA

HSAA Board Members

Executive Committee:

Elisabeth Ballermann, President - Elisabeth.Ballermann@hsaa.caMike Parker, Vice-President - Mike.Parker@hsaa.ca

Edmonton District: JR Bérubé - JR.Berube@hsaa.caDonna Farquharson - Donna.Farquharson@hsaa.caKristopher Moskal - Kris.Moskal@hsaa.caEvan Stratichuk - Evan.Stratichuk@hsaa.caYvonne Whiting - Yvonne.Whiting@hsaa.ca

Calgary District: Travis Asplund - Travis.Asplund@hsaa.caMariana Burstyn - Mariana.Burstyn@hsaa.caKathie Bzdel - Kathie.Bzdel@hsaa.caLaurel Jackson - Laurel.Jackson@hsaa.caFaika Satterthwaite - Faika.Satterthwaite@hsaa.ca

South District: Kelly Garland - Kelly.Garland@hsaa.caJason Soklofske - Jason.Soklofske@hsaa.ca

North District: Diane Lowe - Diane.Lowe@hsaa.caScott MacDougall - Scott.MacDougall@hsaa.ca

Central District: Christine Chambers - Christine.Chambers@hsaa.caTrudy Thomson - Trudy.Thomson@hsaa.ca

Sooo . . . Three months after Albertans elected their first ever

NDP government and, to the surprise of some of the naysayers, the sky has not fallen.

What that means for Alberta’s labour movement, and particularly HSAA members, remains to be seen, but early indications are that the Notley government intends to follow through on its election platform.

Two HSAA members were elected and are now sitting as MLAs in our Legislature.

Debbie Jabbour, an Early Intervention Co-ordinator, is the first MLA ever elected from High Level to represent the Peace River Riding. She has been elected to be Deputy Speaker of the Legislature.

Our Ad Hoc Committee on Child Care has submitted the petitions that it gathered this spring to her, and she tabled it in the Legislature on HSAA’s behalf in the spring session.

Rick Fraser (PC) was re-elected as the MLA for Calgary Southeast.

Congratulations to both, and while I’m at it, also to Pete Helfrich (Lib) and Mary Dahr (NDP) who threw their hats in the provincial election ring. Win or lose, campaigning is not for the faint of heart!

The draconian funding cuts proposed by the Prentice government to health, education and post-secondary education have been eliminated, and the first step toward achieving a $15 minimum wage by 2018 has been announced.

Corporate taxes have been raised

from 10 to 12 per cent, and legislation to make individual income tax progressive has been passed. The latter means that some of us will be paying a bit more.

Frankly, if we are so fortunate as to be earning more than $125,000 per year, that’s OK. We do need to recognize that quality public services – the services you deliver every day – need to be paid for.

It’s early days yet, and without question all in the Notley government and most MLAs are on an incredibly steep learning curve.

Of the 87 MLAs in the Legislature, 70 are new. The next notable milestone will be

the fall budget, which will signal how the government intends to implement its agenda.

Without question, one of the most immediately urgent issues for HSAA is the planned privatization of the medical labs in the Edmonton Zone.

We have lobbied the Health Minister to review the decision to completely privatize this critical public service.

She will be able to access information that we simply can’t. At the time of writing, we still do not know whether the process is too far along to stop.

We do expect that the relationship of the government with the labour movement will be significantly different, as evidenced by the fact that the Minister of Jobs, Skills and Training, Lori Sigurdson, met with the Executive Committee of the Alberta Federation of Labour at its first

meeting following the election. Speaking of elections, unless you

have been living under a rock, you will know that for all intents and purposes, the federal election campaign is under way, as we are already inundated with campaign ads.

I encourage you to inform yourself about the issues that are important to you. For me that means continuing our advocacy for strong public services, supporting the Canada Health Act, resisting the relentless efforts to more privatization and looking for a government that respects the constitutional rights of all Canadians, including unionized workers.

Watch our website for information, including from various partners such as NUPGE, CLC, AFL, Friends of Medicare, etc.

At our recent AGM, members voted to support our union to increase services and activities by approving the dues proposed by your board of directors, which will take effect March 1, 2016.

On behalf of the board, thank all of you for your support and confidence as we use the new resources to develop our members’ resource centre, job stewards, increased educational opportunities and representation, and more.

I’ve had an opportunity to tour a number of our rural sites with our recently elected full-time vice-president, Michael Parker, and we have thoroughly enjoyed meeting members where you work. With that, I hope you are having a fabulous summer and that you do get some time to spend with family and friends, away from work demands.

ElisabethBallermannHSAA PresidentIn Solidarity

ThE PRESIdENT’S MESSAgE

Challenger 3

Next up: Canada’s federal election on October 19

Surprise! The sky hasn’t fallen

4 Challenger

BY ThE NUMBERS/NEWS

Child care workingAnalysis of the impact of $7-a-day child care in Quebec has concluded that women’s labour force participation in that province is between eight per cent and 12 per cent higher than it would have been without a relatively large supply of affordable child care.

(Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives,

November 2014)

More earning minimumThe number of employees earning minimum wage in Alberta increased from 26,600 (April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014) to 38,600 (April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2015), or from 1.6 per cent to 2.2 per cent, the lowest percentage of minimum-wage earners among the Canadian provinces.

(Government of Alberta)

Covering basic needs An individual working full time (35 hours per week, 52 weeks a year) needs to make a minimum of $17.29 per hour without benefits, or $16.14 per hour with benefits, to earn a living wage in Calgary. A living wage is enough to meet basic needs.

(Vibrant Communities Calgary)

Union workers better offFamilies with one or more full-time unionized workers are 1.75 times more likely to have incomes at the upper end of the income spectrum.

(Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives)

By theNumbers

{

HSAA Communications

Manitoba is introducing legislation that will recognize post-traumatic

stress disorder (PTSD) as a work-related occupational disease, becoming the first jurisdiction in Canada to cover all workers.

“This legislation would be unique in Canada and would truly support workers who experience a traumatic event or events in the workplace that lead to PTSD,” said Premier Greg Selinger. “Under this new law, the Workers Compensation Board would presume their condition was caused by the job, making it much easier to access supports, treatment and compensation.”

The premier said this proposed change to the Workers Compensation Act was inspired by the work of Manitoba nurses, firefighters, first responders and the Manitoba Government Employees Union (MGEU) who led the charge with public campaigns, recognizing the

effects workplace trauma can have on their members. “We represent a broad cross section of workers in different occupations and as such we have learned that psychological injuries can happen to absolutely anyone regardless of what they do for a living,” said Michelle Gawronsky, MGEU president. “This legislation would make it easier for workers to get the treatment they need more quickly.”

The new bill would extend coverage and benefits to all workers eligible under WCB who are diagnosed with PTSD by a medical professional.

HSAA president Elisabeth Ballermann said Alberta workers, including the 23,000 front-line health-care workers she represents, would welcome the same kind of legislation here. “While we were pleased when Alberta introduced legislation covering first responders in 2012, we believe that the coverage needs to be expanded. Manitoba is showing that this can be done. We hope the Alberta government follows its lead soon.”

Manitoba moves on PTSD

Canadian Labour Congress

The Prime Minister has used his Conservative Senate majority to rig

Senate rules, shut down debate and force through Bill C-377.

“It’s a corrupt, cynical move that once more demonstrates that unions are far more democratic, transparent and accountable to their members than this prime minister and his government are to taxpayers,” said CLC president Hassan Yussuff.

The Conservatives have tried to spin Bill C-377 as being about union transparency, but experts from across the spectrum agree that it’s really about red tape that will force unions, their suppliers and other businesses they

work with to spend millions of dollars and thousands of hours producing and processing expense reports to be reviewed and filed at taxpayer expense. The bill has been opposed by the NHL Players Association, Conservative and Liberal senators, constitutional experts, Canada’s privacy commissioner, the Canadian Bar Association, the insurance and mutual-fund industry, seven provinces, and others in the business, financial, professional, legal, labour and academic communities.

Yussuff thanked the minority of Senators who listened to the experts and opposed the legislation.

“The CLC and its affiliates will be going to court to challenge the legality and the constitutionality of this legislation,” he added.

Anti-union bill faces court challenge

Challenger 5

hSAA AgM

By Terry Inigo-Jones,HSAA Communications

There was a common theme to many of the speeches made at HSAA’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) at the end of May, only weeks after the Alberta provincial election – change.

The election of a New Democrat government after decades of Progressive Conservative rule was a huge change that many had not seen coming, but most speakers said this was just the beginning. More change is on the way in Alberta – and there’s even hope for change across Canada in this fall’s federal election.

James Clancy, president of the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), to which HSAA is affiliated, said he’d been coming to Alberta for 30 years.

“I’ve been out here for negotiations, to campaigns and strikes and when I got off the plane last night … it just felt different. There was always this sense that Alberta would never change and yet the people who I worked with … They always held hope. They never lost faith,” he said.

The election result on May 5 meant that there was now hope for the future, said Clancy. However, he warned that challenges still lay ahead, particularly for public-sector workers in health care, and that these would be an issue in the federal election on Oct. 19. In the next few years as unions go to the bargaining table to negotiate new contracts, “we are going to continually run into this argument that there’s no money in the kitty,” he said.

“When you look at the $36 billion that the [federal Conservative government proposes taking out of health care beginning in 2017], what do you think it is going to be like for your negotiators to go the table to try and get you and your members a decent contract?”

ALLCHANGE

HSAA’s AGM hears that Alberta’s shock election brings opportunities – but the work is far from over

James Clancy

Photo by Pat Marston

See HEALTH CARE on Page 6”“ I assure you that our government

is committed to protecting and improving public health care ... This includes looking

at how laboratory services are delivered in our province.

QUOTABLE

Minister of Health and Seniors, Sarah Hoffman

6 Challenger

hSAA AgM

The real issue, and one that will be an election issue, is the unfair tax system in Canada, he said.

“In the absence of tax fairness you cannot fund quality public services. They are inextricably linked.”

With fair taxation, with corporations and the wealthiest people paying their share, Canada could afford a national child-care plan and a national pharmacare plan, it could implement national standards around residential and home care, he said.

“We can do better as a nation on a host of fronts. We deserve to do better, our children deserve it. It’s time for change.”

Drew Barnes, the new Wildrose shadow minister for health, agreed the election had changed Alberta.

“To say that Alberta’s political landscape was reshaped on May 5 would be a massive understatement. With the upheavals of the last few months the only thing I’ve become certain about in politics is the uncertainty. While uncertainty can be a cause for anxiety or trepidation, it can also provide an opportunity for hope and optimism,” he said.

“Our new NDP government and the Wildrose share a desire for a public, prioritized infrastructure list … It’s this simple. Infrastructure needs to be built and maintained when and where it’s needed in the most cost-effective manner, meeting the quality of service and care that Albertans expect and deserve. The tens of millions (of dollars) that can be saved by building the plus-1,000 long-term-care beds that we are currently short is a great place to start.”

The change brought by the Alberta election was personal for one HSAA member. Debbie Jabbour, a psychologist working in addictions and mental health, was elected as the NDP MLA for Peace River. She was subsequently elected by the other MLAs to be the Deputy Speaker of the Legislature.

Explaining why she chose to run in the election, she told delegates: “In addictions and mental health, I saw … things that really disturbed me. I saw first hand how the cutbacks affected us. We have a year-long wait list for mental-health services up there. We really struggled to provide quality services up there, and all of you know what that is like.”

Photo by Pat Marston

HEALTH CARE from Page 5

Canada’s unfair tax system will be federal election issue

”“ In addictions and mental health, I saw ... things that really disturbed me.

I saw first hand how the cutbacks affected us.

QUOTABLE

Debbie Jabbour, HSAA member and newly elected NDP MLA for Peace River

See QUALITY SERVICES on Page 7

Challenger 7

hSAA AgM

She’s now looking forward to being part of positive change for Albertans, focusing on:

• Mental health: Not just for patients but for front-line workers “because we can’t do our jobs if we’re not healthy.”

• Seniors and long-term care: “I have a personal stake in that because my dad is in long-term care and I’m not very happy about some of the things I am seeing. The staff are wonderful but they, too, are working in really, really difficult conditions.”

• First Nations and Métis issues: They “are experiencing some profound social and health issues” and feel like their voices have not been heard until now.

The change was also personal for Bill Moore-Kilgannon, who said his speech at the AGM was his last official act as executive director of Public Interest Alberta (PIA), because he was taking up a new post as chief of staff to the new NDP Minister of Health and Minister of Seniors, Sarah Hoffman.

“In my new role, I’m going to make sure that your voices, your stories, your issues as front-line workers are going to be heard day in, day out in that Legislature. That is a change.”

He said HSAA and other organizations that sponsor PIA had advocated for change in areas including:

• The unfair flat tax on personal incomes: “… because of the flat tax, incredibly wealthy people were able to have the lowest taxes in Canada by far, but middle-income earners like everyone in this room were asked to pay more in income tax than if they lived in British Columbia or Ontario.”

• The lowest corporate taxation in Canada: PIA’s Alberta Could campaign was aimed at showing, in a positive light, what this province could achieve in corporations paid a fair tax rate, by funding health care, seniors’ care, education and child care in a sustainable way.

Ricardo Acuña, executive director of the Parkland Institute, said that he and his colleagues first noticed attitudes were shifting in Alberta in January, with increased media interest in research carried out by the institute, more visits to their website and more calls from people asking for their reports.

“I wrote an op-ed in January that got published in the (Edmonton) Journal and (Calgary) Herald about taxes and about Ralph Klein’s legacy. For the first time in 13 years of writing op-eds for the Parkland Institute I did not get a single piece of hate mail.

QUALITY SERVICES from Page 6

Voices of front-line workers will now be heard in Legislature

Photo by Pat Marston

”“ In my new role, I’m going to make sure that your voices, your stories, your issues as front-line

workers are going to be heard day in, day out in that Legislature. That is a change.

QUOTABLE

Bill Moore-Kilgannon, who announced he was leaving his position as executive director

of Public Interest Alberta to become chief of staff to the new minister

of health and seniors

See SHIFTING ATTITUDES on Page 8

8 Challenger

hSAA AgM

“That was the first flag to me that the conversation was shifting,” he said.

However, Acuña had a warning.“We need to be very careful not to think that the change

is here because it’s not yet. We have won the possibility of change, we have won the possibility of new things, of better things that we had been advocating for. But to stop advocating for those things, to stop working for those things right now would be the biggest mistake we could make,” he told the AGM.

Advocacy groups need to push even harder now than in the past, to ensure they take advantage of the opportunity that the election has brought.

“It would be horrible to get this close and then walk away and not see those changes happening.”

Sandra Azocar, executive director of Friends of Medicare, looked forward with optimism.

“We have a fresh start with his new government … finally a party that truly believes in public health and wants to see it succeed,” she told delegates.

“We need to change the corporate culture in our health care that was created after 44 years of Conservative rule in the province. This is a great opportunity to start opening up this public-health umbrella and start bringing back some of the areas that have been privatized by stealth over the years … We need to implement standards of care that truly represent patients’ needs and puts their needs first and foremost.”

Rick Smith, executive director of the Broadbent Institute, looked ahead to the effect Alberta’s election might have on the federal election in October.

“When (HSAA president Elisabeth Ballermann) first asked me a few months ago to speak to you today, little did I know that Edmonton would be the political centre of the Canadian universe,” he said.

Alberta’s election shows that “progressive issues and a progressive point of view can win, do win in Calgary, in Edmonton, all across Alberta and progressive issues are going to win in our national election this fall.”

Smith said the threat of growing income inequality would be a major campaign issue in October.

“Over the past 25 years, in terms of percentage income growth, the bottom 90 per cent of Canadians have had virtually zero per cent income growth in real dollar terms …

The very top .01 per cent of income earners have increased their income at the expense of the rest of us by 160 per cent … So, just an astonishing explosion of wealth at the top end of the income spectrum and at the bottom, people dropping off the scale.”

Alberta, he said, was the most unequal province in the country and one of the reasons is that union density here is low, 15 per cent lower than Quebec and five per cent lower than Ontario. “There is a cause-and-effect relationship

between union density and inequality. Trade unions are important not just for their members, not just for their members’ families, trade unions are important for the prosperity of all Canadians and that’s why we need more trade unions in our lives, not less,” he said.

However, as bad as growing inequality is in Canada now, Smith warned it could get much worse if the federal Conservatives win the election.

“All the major big-ticket items in the recent Conservative federal budget can only be taken advantage of by higher income earners, in some cases as few as five per cent or 10 per cent of Canadians, and will only benefit those Canadians that don’t need much help anyway,” he said.

Canadians need to be convinced to vote for policies that will improve matters, not make them worse.

“National child care would make things much better for single moms, for families all across this country. Changing the tax loopholes that allow CEOs to pay only 50 per cent of the tax on their stock options or capital gains that the rest of us pay on our earned income that needs to change. If there are any tax breaks to be had, we think those should accrue to the middle class and to working people.”

Despite now being the only Liberal MLA in the Legislature, Dr. David Swann said: “Albertans have decided that change was the order of the

day. Hallelujah! … They had the courage to throw out a government that was careless and self-serving and they put in the government that has all of the ingredients of openness, a new set of eyes on the issues of the day, a willingness to try something different, a willingness to put people before profits and, I daresay, a commitment to what I call the role of government to create conditions for health.

SHIFTING ATTITUDES from Page 7

Advocacy groups need to push even harder now

Ricardo Acuña

Sandra Azocar

Rick Smith

See GOVERNMENT on Page 9

Challenger 9

hSAA AgM

“I see many common policies with the New Democrats and I expect to be supporting many of the initiatives they have taken, at least in their platform. I expect to be working with them and holding them accountable.”

Alberta’s new health and seniors minister took time out of her hectic schedule to speak to the AGM, despite being in her new job for only five days.

“The road ahead is both challenging and exhilarating and I’m looking forward to it. Just as your organization’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for your members and society, we are committed to making sure life is better for all Alberta families,” said Hoffman.

“In the weeks and months ahead we are committed to fulfilling what we have outlined in our election platform. These issues include a team approach to care, restoring stability to the health system, opening new long-term-care beds, using hospital space that sits empty to serve patients better and reducing wait times. Ultimately, as the premier has said, we must ensure that care is provided where it is needed.

“I assure you that our government is committed to protecting and improving public health care. As our platform outlines, we will end the past practice of experimenting in privatization and redirect those funds towards publicly delivered services. This includes looking at how laboratory services are delivered in our province.”

Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), provided a tangible example of how Alberta’s election has changed the political landscape for him.

Despite being president of the AFL for 10 years and a labour activist for more than 20 years, McGowan had never been invited to meet the cabinet of the government of Alberta – until the day before HSAA’s AGM.

“As I was waiting one of the staff members … noticed that they were running a bit late and I had been waiting for about 20 minutes … and he came up to me and said: ‘I’m sorry, sir, for making you wait 20 minutes.’ I said: ‘I’ve been waiting 43 years.’ ” He continued: “What became really clear to me in that meeting with the cabinet yesterday is that we are on the cusp of changing things in this province in a very significant way.”

However, the work of the labour movement in Alberta is far from over, just because a progressive party is now in power, he said.

GOVERNMENT from Page 8

Health minister committed to protecting public health care

Photo by Pat Marston

“So, what I told the cabinet yesterday is … Now that you’ve won, we are not going to just cede the field, retreat to the sidelines and wait for you to do good things,” said McGowan.

The new government will be under attack from all sides, under pressure from business groups and the conservative media. “There are going to be slings and arrows hurled at them from all directions.”

The labour movement’s task now was to help the government be successful, not just to win elections but to change the province, by continuing to be champions for progressive ideas, by popularizing those ideas so the public supports progressive measures when they are introduced by the government.

“Now, this is our challenge, to take advantage of this moment to do big things like increase the minimum wage, like introduce pharmacare, like introduce a universal child-care plan, like expand pension coverage to people who don’t have it right now,” he told delegates.

“This is our moment, this is our opportunity and you got us here and I just want to encourage you to keep being the kind of union that you are so we can seize this moment.”

NOTE: All political parties who have members elected to the Legislature were invited to send representatives to speak to the AGM. The Progressive Conservatives and the Alberta Party declined.

CARPE DIEM: AFL president Gil McGowan says the labour movement needs to seize this opportunity to help the new Alberta government make real change in this province.

10 Challenger

hSAA AgM

Terry Inigo-Jones,HSAA Communications

As exciting as it was to see star speakers including a newly

minted health minister, labour leaders and other experts speak at HSAA’s AGM, one of the biggest hits was a presentation by a couple of kids.

Kaylea and Aiden MacMillan told delegates about their experience attending the last Alberta Federation of Labour Kids Camp at Camp Goldeye in Nordegg, Alberta.

As well as the usual outdoor camp activities like rock climbing, horse riding and all kinds of games, there were also fun ways to learn about unions and workplace health and safety.

They also learned about bargaining. The kids wanted to stay up late and have a dance to wrap up their stay. In order to achieve this, they had to set up a negotiating team and strike a deal with camp leaders.

“Our goal was to have a dance on Thursday night and to stay up an hour late! On Wednesday night, the two parties met, negotiated and were able to come to a deal. The kids would be eligible for the dance IF they served the camp counsellors their meals all day Thursday and Friday morning,” said Kaylea. “Everyone agreed this was a good compromise and all the kids at the camp were happy.”

HSAA member and camp counsellor (and proud Mom to Kaylea and Aiden) Sheri MacMillan, an addictions counsellor in Grande Prairie, said: “The camp was a great experience for us as a family … we had a great time and made excellent memories.”

Kids negotiate for the right to partayyy!KIDS IN THE (AGM) HALL: HSAA member Sheri MacMillan and her children Kaylea and Aiden gave a report on the AFL Kids Camp. There were fun and games, but lessons learned, too.Photo by Pat Marston

Kids Camp photos courtesy of Sheri MacMillan

Challenger 11

hSAA AgM

One of my colleagues had the experience of attending our

AGM for the first time last week. He commented afterward how the event enriched his understanding of the role of the union for the betterment of our quality of life, but was even more impacted and appreciative of the role our union plays in the areas of social advocacy and social justice.

Hearing comments like this is quite rewarding. Being part of a union with a lofty goal of having our members and the public understand and appreciate the value of unions and seeing measures of that goal being accomplished is something for which I am very grateful.

I am proud of the work our union has done and continues to do. Great job! I am also happy our members voted in favour of the dues increase put forward at the AGM. Some organizations do a little with a lot. In my opinion, our union does a lot with a little. I am hard-pressed to think of a better investment of my money. It is an investment in change that is not an illusion but is actually real and tangible and can be seen throughout our province.

Keep up the good work.In Solidarity,

Clifton Campbell,Addictions Counsellor, AHS,

Medicine Hat Provincial Building

By Terry Inigo-Jones,HSAA Communications

Yvonne Whiting’s friends describe her as the poster girl for: “If at

first you don’t succeed, try again.”That indomitable spirit is one of

the reasons she was nominated for and won HSAA’s Barb Mikulin award, presented at the AGM.

Whiting, a laboratory technologist, started her career at Edmonton’s Grey Nuns Hospital, but in 1993 she and other HSAA members were transferred to a new employer, Dynacare Kasper Medical Laboratories (DKML), and lost their HSAA memberships. Working with HSAA staff, she helped with a campaign to organize the new private-sector workplace. That effort failed, but she didn’t give up.

“When the next opportunity came up to try for HSAA membership, Yvonne put her back and all her other body parts into it. So, with the help

of Craig Johnston (Labour Relations Officer) from HSAA, support from co-workers and lots of hard work, certification was possible on the second attempt,” say her colleagues who nominated her for the award.

Whiting was the chair of the Local Unit at what is now called DynaLIFEDX from certification until recently and has been an active member, attending courses on labour, equality and other issues. She has served on HSAA’s Human Rights and Equality Committee and the Social Justice Committee and is now a member of HSAA’s board of directors. She is also a member of Public Interest Alberta, the Parkland Institute and Friends of Medicare and finds time to volunteer in her neighbourhood and participate the Grey for a Day event for the Greater Edmonton Foundation, which works to provide affordable housing for seniors.

Congratulations on the award! You deserve it.

AGM ‘enriched understanding’ of union’s role

If at first you don’t succeed, ask Yvonne Whiting. She knows

AND THE WINNER IS: Yvonne Whiting, second from left, receives HSAA’s Barb Mikulin Award from president Elisabeth Ballermann. Looking on are her colleagues at DynaLIFEDX Linda Lockwood, left , and Shirley Forbes.

Phot

o by

Pat

Mar

ston

12 Challenger

FEdERAL ELECTION 2015

By Cori LongoCanadian Labour Congress Regional Representative (Alberta)

In only a couple of months, Canadians will have a chance to

make their voice heard on a national scale.

The upcoming federal election provides an incredible opportunity for Canadians to improve their lives by electing a new government. The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) continues to build and support labour’s momentum leading into the October 19 election.

Here in Alberta, we hope to capture the momentum from the provincial election and elect more New Democrat Members of Parliament than ever before. Alberta has inspired and given hope to concerned Canadians across this country. We proved to the nation that change is possible if we work together. We must once again fight for our values by getting rid of the Conservatives and electing a party that supports working families.

But what are those values? What are the important issues to Canadians?

• Health care: Universal health care is part of our identity as Canadians, but it has been under attack and we must protect it. Our population is aging rapidly in Canada, which means our health-care needs are growing.

After nine years in power, the Conservative government hasn’t properly addressed this concern. In fact, the situation has gotten worse. The Conservatives have refused to enforce the Canada Health Act and eliminated the Health Council of Canada. The current federal government has walked away from the federal-provincial health accord and

refused to renegotiate it. The federal funding for health care is no longer guaranteed, and that equates to a loss of $36 billion in health-care transfers by 2024.

This is unacceptable. We need to elect a government that will reverse this decision, a government that will enforce the Canada Health Act, work with the provinces and territories to improve our health-care system and not dismantle it. We need to elect candidates who are committed to these changes.

• Child care: We all know that this is a huge challenge for working families. Currently, child care is difficult to find, extremely expensive and the quality is inconsistent. We also know the benefits of affordable and accessible child care. We don’t need to look any further than Quebec, with its $7-a-day child-care program, to see

the benefits. Decent child care would allow

parents to go back into the workplace earlier, it would stimulate the economy and it would provide quality jobs. For every public dollar that goes into quality child care (for trained staff, high staff-to-child ratios, decent living wages and good working conditions), there is a 254-per-cent return in social and economic benefits.

Quality child care helps in poverty reduction, improves economic equality and results in educational and cognitive gains for children, thereby producing long-term societal benefits. We need a national child-care system that is publicly funded and publicly delivered now. Choose to support candidates who understand the need for a national child-care program.

CLC has a message: It’s time for change

BETTER CHOICE: Cori Longo says the CLC has launched a new campaign called Better Choice aimed at preparing members to face the federal election.

Photo by Terry Inigo-Jones, HSAA

See ELECTION on Page 13

Challenger 13

FEdERAL ELECTION 2015

• Good jobs: Finding a good job with a living wage, decent benefits and working conditions is becoming more and more difficult, especially for younger workers. Labour-force participation is at its lowest since 2001, underemployment is high and part-time jobs and temporary positions have become all too common in the workplace.

In Alberta, we’ve seen the negative effects of the expanded Temporary Foreign Worker (TFW) program, which allows employers to exploit migrant workers. This is completely unacceptable. We need to elect a federal

WE CAN DO BETTER:IT’S TIME FOR CHANGEALLTOGETHERNOW.NUPGE.CA | FACEBOOK/ATNCAMPAIGN

We can do better Let’s settle for less

✓WHEN IT COMES TO ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE,

THE ELECTION BOILS DOWN TO A SIMPLE CHOICE:

WE CAN DO BETTER:IT’S TIME FOR CHANGEALLTOGETHERNOW.NUPGE.CA | FACEBOOK/ATNCAMPAIGN

We can do better Let’s settle for less

✓WHEN IT COMES TO ACCESS TO HEALTH CARE,

THE ELECTION BOILS DOWN TO A SIMPLE CHOICE:

ELECTION from Page 12

It’s getting harder for young workers to find good jobs

”

A pension and retirement crisis is looming. However, the response from the federal government was to make access to support more difficult by raising the age of eligibility for both Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) to 67 from 65.

QUOTABLE

“

Cori Longo, CLC

government that invests in training and apprenticeship programs, returns to a permanent immigration system, develops a national jobs strategy, increases the minimum wage and develops strategies to close the wage gap for women, indigenous and racialized workers.

It is possible to improve our employments standards – we just need to elect a government that cares about working families as much as we do.

• Retirement security: Our population is aging, people are living longer and health-care needs are increasing. Meanwhile, seniors are carrying more debt, there are fewer workplace pensions available and the ratio of working Canadians to seniors is decreasing. A pension and retirement security crisis is looming.

However, the response from the federal government was to make access to support more difficult by raising the age of eligibility for both Old Age Security (OAS) and Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) to 67 from 65. The Conservative government has taken a bad situation and made it even worse.

Labour has a plan to avert this crisis. We demand that the federal government commit to doubling the Canadian Pension Plan (CPP), reverse the age increases and increase GIS benefits. For this to happen, we need to have a government that actually cares about retirement security.

Workers should be considering this as a crucial election issue. This fall, we will get to choose how we overcome these challenges. We know there is a better choice for all of us and a better choice for the economy. Together, we have the power to make that change by engaging our co-workers, our friends and our family members in a fight for a more equitable Canada.

The CLC has launched its Better Choice campaign to prepare our members to face the election. It’s time to kick out the Conservatives and demand better. There is a better choice. We can change this country if we work together. For information, visit http://betterchoice.ca/

14 Challenger

EARThQUAKES ROCK NEPAL

By Terry Inigo-Jones,HSAA Communications

When Calgary respiratory therapist Suzanne Boyd flew out to Nepal earlier this year, she expected to take part in an eight-day ultra-marathon, followed by a 17-day trek and

mountain climb off the beaten track.As challenging as that sounds, what she actually

experienced was an unexpected adventure of an entirely different kind – due to a series of earthquakes and aftershocks which devastated the region while she was there.

“We were half way through (the ultra-marathon) when the first earthquake hit. We were running at the time and none of us really felt it. Some people saw rock walls fall and some people saw landslides, but they didn’t think it was a quake,” she says in an interview in a peaceful garden area of Calgary’s Rockyview General Hospital, where she works in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU).

It wasn’t until the runners got back to the teahouse in which they were staying a few hours later that night that they learned there had been a quake. They felt helpless as their access to information was limited, so they were unaware of the extent of the disaster.

Boyd and the other participants in the high-altitude 200-km Mustang Trail Race 2015 (http://mustangtrailrace.com/) were faced with a decision. Should they abandon the

event and head home or continue?“We were kind of sheltered. It was almost surreal, in a way,

because we knew this thing was happening and our first thought was we should get back,” she says.

But they didn’t know whether the roads to Katmandu were open and they were told it would take days to get back to the Nepalese capital.

“We realized we were probably in the safest place we could be right now, so we just continued the race and we assessed the risk each day. There were a few spots on the trail that we had to divert just slightly because of landslides and some landslides that we could climb over. But we finished the race,” she says.

“Once we flew into Pokhara (after the race), it felt a little more real because that was close to the epicentre. There were lots of army helicopters and such flying in and out and we saw a little of what was going on.”

Suzanne Boyd went to Nepal to run, she stayed to care for victims

HIKINGTO HELP

AFTER QUAKE

Challenger 15

EARThQUAKES ROCK NEPAL

ADVENTURE HOLIDAY: Left, respiratory therapist Suzanne Boyd helps locals after the earthquakes in Nepal – a far cry from her work at Calgary’s Rockyview General Hospital, above.

As they then travelled into Katmandu, they started seeing tent cities and crashed buildings. “There were people living on the street in tarps, living in open fields … You could tell people were on edge,” she says.

According to the United Nations (UN), nearly 8,700 people were killed and 16,800 more injured. More than half a million homes, as well as many temples and places of worship, were destroyed or left unsafe as a result of damage.

“I started thinking: I’m not ready to go home yet. With my medical background and training I could really help here. It made me want to do something for the people of Nepal.”

At her hotel, Boyd met people from Canadian Medical Assistance Teams (CMAT) a Canadian disaster-relief organization, including – to her surprise – fellow HSAA member and union vice-president Mike Parker, who was on his third volunteer expedition with the organization. There were also See MISCARRIED on Page 16

Terry Inigo-Jones, HSAA

Photo courtesy of Suzanne Boyd

members of Medicins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders).

Boyd offered to stay and help – an offer that was quickly accepted.

“I really thought I would stay for a few days … and then fly home, but I was so busy,” she says.

One operation turned into two, then three. In the end, it was weeks later that she got home to Calgary. She’d be up early and working till late in the evening. One five-day mission involved a day-long hike up a mountain and through several devastated villages to reach a remote area where help was needed.

Most of the work was providing primary care, dealing with wounds, cuts, bruises, broken and sprained ankles and knees. As well as being a respiratory therapist, Boyd has experience in first aid. She helped communities prepare for the coming monsoon season and the threat it brings of spreading disease.

She was also involved in helping a soldier who had suffered anaphylactic shock and a woman who had miscarried.

16 Challenger

EARThQUAKES ROCK NEPAL

MISCARRIED from Page 15

She ‘walked for seven hours ... bleeding the entire way’

“She had walked for seven hours to get to where we were. She was bleeding the entire way. It took a day and a half, mostly because of the weather, for a helicopter to come in and get her.”

Basically, Boyd and other volunteers and emergency workers just did whatever was required and went wherever

DEVASTATION: More than half a million homes were destroyed or left unsafe by the earthquakes and aftershocks.

Photos courtesy of Mike Parker

they were asked to go.“What I really loved

about it was that you could MacGyver things. You had to think outside the box because their resources were limited.”

One woman had a particularly badly sprained ankle and really needed to go to a medical centre for treatment, but that option wasn’t available.

“Instead of just wrapping the ankle – it was kind of bent already and I knew it was an issue – I wanted to splint it. I didn’t have any splints on me, so I went and found some bamboo sticks, wrapped either end of them so they wouldn’t dig in to her leg and proceeded to use that as a splint,” she says. “I like that kind of creativity.”

See DISASTER on Page 17

QUOTABLE

”“ [The people] were very gracious and grateful for everything. The Nepalese people are, to me, just the most beautiful people.

Suzanne Boyd

Photo courtesy of Suzanne Boyd

This disaster work, she says, is a different kind of health care than she practises at home. There’s no filling of requisition forms, no policies and processes to follow, no handing off patients to another worker at the end of your shift. You see a need and you do what you can right away with the limited resources on hand.

Challenger 17

EARThQUAKES ROCK NEPAL

By Terry Inigo-Jones,HSAA Communications

You find HSAA members in some of the strangest places.

HSAA vice-president Mike Parker was with a CMAT assessment team in Katmandu, preparing for the arrival of the organization’s 16-person field hospital. The last thing he expected was to bump into fellow HSAA member and respiratory therapist Suzanne Boyd.

“It’s a matter of some pride to know that health-care professionals, including HSAA members, are the kind of people who do this – head into disaster areas to help people in need,” says Parker, an Edmonton paramedic who has previously been deployed on CMAT missions in Pakistan and the Philippines.

“Suzanne had a choice. She could go home or she could stay in a disaster zone and help. She chose to stay.”

Parker is also grateful for HSAA’s continuing support of CMAT, with the union donating $5,000 for the group’s Nepalese deployment.

FRIENDLY FACES: Above, HSAA VP Mike Parker and union member Suzanne Boyd in Nepal. Left, Parker and a CMAT member check out a baby’s vital signs.

Photos courtesy of Mike Parker

Fancy meeting you here!

DISASTER from Page 16

Now Nepal is ‘always in my head, always on my mind’

“It is so raw. It is unlike any other experience,” says Boyd.“You feel like you’re making a difference … The simplest

things, like putting a smile on the people’s faces, it enlightens you and makes you feel good,” she says.

The people “were very gracious and grateful for everything. The Nepalese people are, to me, just the most beautiful people. I actually get emotional about it. They are so resilient and resourceful. It is so humbling.”

Would she recommend this kind of volunteering to colleagues? “Absolutely.”

Her experiences in Nepal have stayed with her. “It’s always in my head, always on my mind. It’s just a great reminder about being grateful for the little things we have. It’s hard to come back knowing there is so much work that could be done.”

In fact, Boyd is already planning to return to Nepal in October to complete the 17-day-trek portion of her vacation. She and others are hoping to raise funds and gather donations to provide medical and school supplies for Nepalese people still in need.

And so the adventure continues.

18 Challenger

As the world marked the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War earlier this year, HSAA’s Cheryl Drummond looks back at the groundbreaking role played by a remarkable Canadian woman.

By Cheryl Drummond,HSAA Administrative Assistant

Did you know that Canada had its very own real-life version of Rosie the Riveter?

Rosie was the woman whose famous image was used to boost morale in the U.S. during the Second World War and draw more women into the workforce. She was the tough-as-nails worker rolling up her sleeves to toil in a factory supporting the Allied war effort.

She was portrayed as the ideal woman worker – loyal, efficient, patriotic and, of course, pretty. Painter Norman Rockwell’s portrait of a muscular, overall-clad Rosie graced the cover of the Saturday Evening Post on May 29, 1943, and became an iconic wartime image. It was later used in the now famous “We Can Do It” poster.

Canada’s Second World War role model was a little different.

Not content with working on the factory floor, our heroine used her intelligence – and her extensive education - and took on the vital role of supervising the Canadian production of Hawker Hurricane fighter planes.

Women in Canada and the U.S. answered the call to join the workforce while their men were fighting on the front lines, switching from lower paying traditionally female jobs to higher paying factory jobs.

Companies at first recruited women just graduated from high school, but eventually the demands of the labour market grew so severe that married women and mothers with young children also took jobs.

hISTORY

Canada’s Rosie was a boss and engineer

Out of a total Canadian population of 11 million, only about 600,000 women held permanent jobs when the war

started. By the end

of the war, their numbers had doubled to 1.2 million.

Canada’s Rosie the Riveter was a woman named Elsie MacGill, later to become known as the

“Queen of the Hurricanes.”

See HURRICANE on Page 19

IN COMMAND: Unlike Rosie the Riveter in the U.S., Canada’s Elsie MacGill didn’t just work on a wartime production line, she directed production of thousands of Hurricane fighter aircraft, like the one on display below at the Reynolds Alberta Museum.

MacGill 1946 photo courtesy of Canada’s Aviation Hall of Fame, Wetaskiwin

Challenger 19

Social Workers: Advocating for Albertans Across Alberta, Registered Social Workers can be found helping others. Often, you will find us advocating for those who are not able to speak for themselves.

Alberta’s income disparity gap is a good example. A growing gap between the haves and have nots has resulted in more homelessness, more working poor, an affordable housing crisis and many other social problems.

As social workers, we are on the front lines, urging government to repair major cracks in our social infrastructure and to adopt social polices that look after the needs of vulnerable Albertans.

Access to resources to meet basic human needs is every person’s right. Alberta’s 7000 Registered Social Workers are advocates for fairness and social justice. Advocacy is a fundamental aspect of our professional ethics and at the heart of what we do.

The Alberta college of Social Workers regulates social work practice in Alberta. Its primary focus is to serve and protect the public interest by promoting skilled and ethical social work. www.acsw.ab.ca

Registered Social Workers (RSW):The professional standard in social work

She was born March 27, 1905, in Vancouver and – despite contracting polio and learning to walk with two canes – had a unique list of firsts during her career:

• She was the first Canadian woman to obtain an electrical engineering degree;

• She was the first woman in North America to earn a degree in aeronautical engineering; and

• She was the world’s first woman chief aeronautical engineer.

MacGill went to work at the Canada Car and Foundry Co., also known as Can-Car, in Fort William, Ont., in 1938. She designed the Maple Leaf Trainer II aircraft used for training pilots.

With the war looming, the Royal Air Force contracted Can-Car to manufacture Hawker Hurricanes. As chief aeronautical engineer, MacGill not only directed production, she also designed cold-weather modifications including skis and de-icing controls.

By 1941, Can-Car had taken on an additional 3,000 workers, 40 per cent of whom were women. By the end of the war MacGill had overseen the production of 1,450 of these aircraft, earning her the “Queen of the Hurricanes” nickname.

She became a symbol of the economic changes brought to Canada by the war and was even the subject of a 1942 comic book that used her nickname as a title.

After production of the Hurricane ceased, MacGill married and moved to Toronto, where she and her husband set up an aeronautical consulting business.

However, her role as a leader and role model was far from over. In 1946, she became the first woman to serve as technical advisor for the United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), where she helped craft International Air Worthiness regulations for the design and production of commercial aircraft.

She also devoted time to fighting for women’s rights, including paid maternity leave, day-care facilities and the liberalization of abortion laws. In 1967, she was appointed to the Royal Commission on the Status of Women.

MacGill died on Nov. 4, 1980, in Cambridge, Mass., after a short illness. She was once quoted as saying: “I have received many engineering awards, but I hope I will also be remembered as an advocate for the rights of women and children.”

HURRICANE from Page 18

MacGill also a leader in fight for women’s rights

hISTORY

Imag

e co

urte

sy o

f Can

ada’s

Avi

atio

n H

all o

f Fam

e, W

etas

kiw

in

20 Challenger

LABOUR RELATIONS

By Wendy Gilholm,HSAA Labour Relations Officer

Do you work for Alberta Health Services (AHS) and are having problems claiming travel expenses from the

employer?If so, then your Labour Relations Officer (LRO) needs

to hear from you. The interpretation of the new language made to

the travel expenses article (Article 20) of the collective agreement during the last round of bargaining, particularly in Article 20.02 (f ) is now in dispute with the employer and a policy grievance has been filed.

If you have submitted an expense claim per Article 20.02 (f ) to your supervisor/manager and it has been denied or the amount has been reduced, please contact your LRO as soon as possible so we can add your case to the grievance.

The collective agreement in 20.02 (e) says that time spent travelling to the designated work location at the start of the day, or returning from the designated work location at the end of the day, is on the employee’s own time and unpaid.

New language in 20.02 (f ) says that when the employee is required to start or to end their work day at a location other than their designated work location, the travel is on the employee’s own time unless the one-way trip adds more than 25 kilometres to their travel.

In that case, the employee will be paid kilometres and time for their additional travel. The question of whether the trip adds more than 25 kilometres to their usual travel will be determined by the shortest route starting (or returning to as the case may be) either at the employee’s residence or at the employee’s designated work location.

HSAA’s Interpretation:The expectation is to take the shortest route between

your home and the alternate site. Employees will be compensated for travel when the trip adds more than 25 kilometres to what they would usually travel between their home and their designated work location.

So once the 25-kilometre threshold/qualifier has been reached, employees will be compensated for the entire differences between their regular commute and the commute to and/or from the alternate location.

Examples:1. If the employee’s regular commute from their home

to their designated work location is 18 kilometres and they are required to report to an alternate work location and the commute from the employee’s home to the alternate work

HSAA files policy grievance over travel claims

The HSAA Advantage

includes HSAA Bursaries!HSAA has bursaries available to all members or their spouses/

dependants to encourage and support their educational goals and they include:

1. Part-time Bursary ($500.00)2. Dell Taylor Memorial Education Fund ($200.00)3. George C. Hall Bursary ($800)4. Labour Relations Fund ($300)

For more details and the bursary applications, go to http://www.hsaa.ca/member-resources/hsaa-forms.

In addition to the bursaries, there is a Members’ Assistance Fund that can be accessed by members with emergent financial needs. Please call our office at 1-800-252-7904 for more information.

location is 48 kilometres, then the employee would be paid travel time and mileage for 30 kilometres (because it is more than 25 kilometres than their usual travel).

2. If the employee’s regular commute from their home to their designated work location is 18 kilometres and they are required to report to an alternate work location and the commute from the employee’s home to the alternate work location is 42 kilometres, then the employee would not be compensated for their additional time and travel (because it is only 24 kilometres more than their usual travel).

3. If the employee’s regular commute from their home to their designated work location is one kilometre (they live blocks from their designated work location) and they are sent to an alternate work location and the location is 32 kilometres from their designated work location and then they report back to their designated work location 32 kilometres in the same day, then the employee would be compensated for 63 kilometres.

If you are a member who is affected, you will be asked to provide your name, employee number, work location, date the claim was made, date the claim was denied as submitted and a copy of the returned expense claim to your LRO. (You will be asked to provide a separate copy for each incident.) Your name and each incident will be added to the master list. If you have been directed by your supervisor/manager to cease making claims based on our interpretation, please contact your LRO with details.

If we are successful with our policy grievance, only those who appear on the master list will be reimbursed.

Watch the website for updates!

Challenger 21

hSAA CAMPAIgN

By Faika Satterthwaite,Recreational Therapist, HSAA board member,Chair of HSAA Ad Hoc Committee on Child Care

I am a mother and a grandmother. I remember the struggles I had raising my daughter many years ago. I

now see my daughter facing those same struggles trying to balance her work with caring for her daughter.

I know that Alberta, and Canada, can do better when it comes to child care.

That was the driving force for my involvement in HSAA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Child Care.

Those of you who live in Calgary will recall last

Child-care campaign says we can do better

IMAGINE: HSAA board member Faika Satterthwaite, right, says affordable child care would make a real difference for daughter Yasemin and grand-daughter Scarlett, now aged three.

Photo by Terry Inigo-Jones, HSAA

”

“ Or, imagine we had an affordable and accessible child-care plan that allows parents to continue working, that reduced the financial burden faced by single parents and low-income families, that grew our workforce – and that promoted the health, learning and development of our children.

QUOTABLE

Faika Satterthwaite

September’s snow storm (“Snowtember”). My daughter Yasemin, a single mom, was stuck in traffic that day and was late picking up her two-year-old daughter Scarlett from her dayhome.

Although she talked to the dayhome operator while she was on her way to pick up her girl to explain that she was running late and why, she later found a note in Scarlett’s backpack saying the child would

no longer be welcome at the dayhome. They gave her one week’s notice.

Imagine the devastation and heartache this caused. Imagine the scramble to find alternative arrangements. Imagine the effect of this sudden change on the child.

Or, imagine we had an affordable and accessible child-care plan that allows parents to continue working, that reduced the financial burden faced by single parents and low-income families, that grew our workforce – and that promoted the health, learning and development of our children.

That’s a better way. It’s a win-win situation for everyone.HSAA set up the Child Care committee to advocate for

the creation of just such a plan in Alberta. While only a few countries (including France, German

and Sweden) have introduced affordable child-care plans, there is a lot of evidence that they work. In Canada, only

Quebec has been progressive enough to create something that works, with its $7-per-day child-care system.

In the four months since HSAA’s Ad Hoc Committee on Child Care was established, we have:

• Presented our work plan to the Board of Directors and received a financial commitment of $2,000 to fund our campaign;

• Created documents, fact sheets and a petition calling for the creation of a child-care plan in Alberta;

• Held townhall meetings with HSAA Local Unit executives and with employers around the province;

• Collected more than 2,000 signatures on our petition; and

• Had NDP MLA (and HSAA member) Debbie Jabbour table our petition in the Legislature.

I would like to thank our board of directors for their belief in us; the members of the committee (Laine Burlingham, Mariana Burstyn, Tory Tomblin, Betty Baronic and Cristabel Hernandez) for their passion and hard work; Debbie Jabbour for her great work in our new government; all HSAA staff involved with this project and all of you who helped collect signatures!

22 Challenger

LOCAL IMPACT

HSAA members teamed up to play hockey and raise funds to fight

cancer in the Third Annual Leduc Fire Cup earlier this year.

Eight teams joined in this effort to raise money for the Enbridge Ride to Conquer Cancer campaign. Teams in this tournament consisted of Spruce Grove Fire Services, Parkland County Fire, Alberta Health Services (AHS) EMS, Edmonton Fire Rescue, Leduc County Fire, Edmonton International Airport Fire, City of Leduc Fire Services and Wetaskiwin Fire.

HSAA’s Social Justice Committee donated $100 to each player who is a member of the union who took part in the tournament in March.

The AHS team had a rocky start, losing the first game against Spruce

Grove Fire Services, but they picked it up in the next match, defeating Parkland County. The next morning, the team faced City of Edmonton Fire Services. With some great team effort and top-notch goal tending, they pulled off another win, advancing to the “B” finals against City Leduc Fire Services. They controlled the entire game and recorded a 9-3 win.

“The tournament was a huge success,” says Darryl Clark, a paramedic with Edmonton Suburban EMS. “We had an amazing weekend and would like to thanks HSAA for being a part of it with their donation to each HSAA member on the team. After all donations were taken in and all expenses paid for, the tournament raised more than $5,000.”

Hockey scores in cancer fight

WHAT A TEAM! HSAA members on the team included Cole Hoeber, Kelly Landaker, Darren Edmonds, Darryl Clark, Phil Guimaraes, Casey Maier, Steph Fedoruk, Adam Pahl, Josh Koper, Jordan Hanratty, Kenton Nelson, John McFarlane. HSAA member Dylan Elgersma was also on the team, but is not in the photo.

By Cheryl Fisher, BSc. RDClinical DietitianUniversity of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton

Despite the cool and windy conditions, the 26th annual

Johnson MS Bike Tour (Leduc to Camrose) on June 13-14 was another successful and fun weekend.

It was also the biggest tour to date and with the fantastic support of friends, family, colleagues and our HSAA union, I brought in $2,180,

having raised a total $17,693 since I started riding for MS in 2007. HSAA’s Social Justice Committee donated $100.

Cold and wind fail to deter MS bike riders

About 2,200 bikes lined up under the grey and chilly skies (7° C) to begin the 174-km tour on Saturday morning.

We waited for an hour in the cold to start, but soon got going and warmed up.

Thankfully, the rain held off and, with a tail wind most of the day, we had a great ride, finishing after only three hours and 15 minutes in the saddle, enjoying some good camaraderie with other cyclists along the way.

An early breakfast at Camrose Exhibition Grounds Sunday morning and we were back on our bikes for day two, but the northwest winds were no longer behind us!

A light 14-km/hr in the morning picked up with gusts greater than 35 km/hr for the better part of the 91-km stretch back to Nisku. At some points I felt like we were going backward instead of forward!

The hills and headwind made for a slow and steady haul, but I made it to the finish and was more than happy to get off of my bike. As challenging as the ride was this year, it was still enjoyable. Remembering all of my sponsors and the contributions you have made was what kept me going to the end!

Many thanks again to HSAA for your support of this worthy cause. We will end MS!

To find out more about the Johnson MS Bike Tour, go to www.msbiketours.ca

Cheryl Fisher

Challenger 23

hSAA hISTORY

By Kim Adonyi,HSAA Communications

As HSAA moves into the 45th year of its Alberta union history,

we recently interviewed newly retired HSAA member Diane Olsen. A member for more than 40 years, she was involved in the shaping of HSAA from the early days.

“I had moved to Alberta from down east and took a position as an EEG (Electroencephalograph) Technologist. HSAA had only been an official union for about a year or so when our technical workers at the Royal Alexandra Hospital were approached by HSAA to represent them,” says Olsen. “The technical staff decided to unionize with HSAA because we had more in common with the other medical technical workers than we did with the administrative groups under CUPE and AUPE.”

But not everyone saw the benefits of joining the new union initially, and as Alberta has never had a reputation for being the most union friendly of provinces, there was some resistance to the newly formed HSAA, remembers Olsen. “Some people didn’t want or trust the union. Especially a brand new one that didn’t have any history.”

Olsen was from a family of union advocates. Her uncle was the head of a labour union and her sister was part of Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia (RNABC). It was only a matter of time before she decided to add union executive to her own résumé. Olsen made the decision to help shape the newly formed union and became part of the HSAA executive council from 1975-1976. Under the leadership of George C. Hall as executive director and Carol Billman as president, Olsen accepted the position of vice-president of

Retiring member recalls early days of HSAA

HSAA. “We had a little office on 124 Street and there were union meetings every Tuesday that usually went past nine in the evening. It was a long day after working your regular job. Often we would eat from a little Chinese restaurant. I remember because I was allergic to MSG.”

Olsen bargained two of the first contracts, the first in 1974. “In the beginning the professional medical staff didn’t want to join HSAA, especially the psychologists. But once they saw the benefits HSAA members were receiving they were impressed and both nurses and psychologists

BUSY SCHEDULE: Diane Olsen may be retired, but she’s got a lot of exciting activities planned.

Photo by Kim Adonyi, HSAA

asked to join HSAA!”“The minimum we ever bargained

for at that time was Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) but we also saw wage increases of 48 per cent back then too. It seems like a lot now (but) the economy was entirely different and we were just coming on par with the nurses. At that time, professional and technical staff were not paid like nurses were.”

Olsen said Hall was a quiet man and didn’t particularly like bargaining. “He would always say how he wished we could all just come to the table and plainly say what we needed instead of secretly trying to manipulate each other.”

Eventually, Olsen had to step down from her vice-president position due to work requirements. “I could not leave the lab unmanned and during bargaining we would go away for a week so we could focus on negotiations and not be called in to work. I eventually had to leave my position as vice-president as ‘Time Off for Union Business’ was not introduced until 1979.”

Olsen officially retired in May 2015 from her career of 42 years.

“We’ve got a lot planned and I’m really excited because we’re big soccer fans and FIFA is coming to town!” (Diane was interviewed in June.)

Olsen has four daughters ranging from 25 to 31 years. “Two of my daughters are visiting Europe so we are heading to England this September. One of my daughters is getting married and the other one is going to have her first child this year and wants to move back to Edmonton to be close to us.”

On behalf of the staff and members of HSAA, we wish Diane Olsen a wonderful retirement. It seems like she is off to a magnificent start.

24 Challenger

hSAA STAFF

New staff hired to better serve members

Anne Halliday,Labour Relations Officer, Disability (Edmonton)

Anne has worked in the disability-management field for almost 20 years, much of the time with the Workers’ Compensation

Board (WCB) Alberta in various roles, including being a member of the DRDRB (highest level of internal appeal at WCB). Prior to that, she was a social worker. She has a passion for helping people. “When we are injured or ill, it can be challenging to navigate the insurance world. My role is to assist members and advocate on their behalf, which includes preparing and presenting appeals when necessary.” Anne adds: “I’m a strong believer in paying it forward and my role at HSAA enables me to do that. Helping our members, people who are usually helping others, is very rewarding. I’m thrilled to be able to do that in my role at HSAA!”

HSAA has some new people to better serve you. We are pleased to

welcome the following individuals to the staff.

Shirley Bechtel, Labour Relations Officer (Edmonton)

Shirley Bechtel has a 20-year career in the human-resources-management field,

having worked in the private and public industry including health care, education, engineering and energy. She has worked in both union and non-union sectors. Her educational degrees in Science (Psychology) as well as Business (HR Management) have given her a versatile foundation in her field. Born and raised in Edmonton, her career has been focused within Alberta and some HSAA members may remember her from her time with the Good Samaritan Society, where she worked as an HR consultant with the Edmonton Region. She looks forward to growing her expertise with HSAA as she advocates for her members.

Erik Carlson,Labour Relations Officer (Calgary)

Erik’s journey to HSAA began in Toronto as a Labour Relations Advisor for the Canada Revenue Agency. It was exciting work

that included many types of labour issues including grievances, accommodations, attendance and behaviour management, and performance management. After moving to Calgary in 2014, Erik sought to expand his horizons in human resources (HR) and worked as an HR generalist for the University of Calgary in the Cumming School of Medicine. While this was a good opportunity to see some of the foundational pieces of HR administration, he says he missed the challenges of the labour environment. Erik is pleased to find himself back in the world of labour and on the union side of the table as a Labour Relations Officer (LRO). He looks forward to using his knowledge of employer practices and processes to better advocate for HSAA members and supporting the continuing development of fair and equitable working environments for our members.

Chad Horchuk,IT Systems Administrator (Edmonton)

Chad joins HSAA after three years working as a contract employee though our IT

provider, ES Williams. A graduate of Computer Engineering Technology at NAIT, Chad has been involved with technology in various roles since 2004. In addition to working in IT, he spent three years with the MolsonCoors brewing company as a sales representative for north central Alberta. Since transitioning to IT full time, he has developed a broad range of technical and managerial certifications, including his Microsoft Certified Solutions Expert (MCSE) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) certificates. Chad’s current focus will be on the design and deployment of all the required technologies in the new HSAA office now under construction in Edmonton. “Coming on board with HSAA has been a highlight of my career so far. I’m thrilled to be working with a great team of staff and leaders as we prepare to move into our new office later this year.

Tammy Milliken,Labour Relations Officer (Edmonton)

Edmonton born and raised, Tammy Milliken comes to us from the Government of Alberta, where she was an Employment Standards Officer for many years. While there, she enforced the Employment Standards Code and Regulations, ensuring that employees who were not paid properly received the money owed to them. She also worked with Alberta Mediation Services on a temporary basis, appointing arbitrators and auditing mediators’ files. She has a Human Resource Management Certificate from the University of Alberta and many years of experience dealing with conflict situations that occur regularly in the workplace. She is thrilled to be working at a place where she can have a positive effect on how members are being treated and looks forward to meeting the members and working for them. She is married and has two adult children and three grandchildren to spoil and enjoys travelling and gardening in her spare time.

Challenger 25

hSAA STAFF/hUMAN RIghTS

Joanna Zagorski,Labour Relations Officer (Edmonton)

Joanna Zagorski comes to HSAA with more than 11 years of service with the Government of Alberta. She has spent 7.5 years working as a senior Employment Standards Officer, ensuring that employers abide by the minimum standards of the Alberta Employment Standards Code and Regulations. Joanna has taken advanced mediation and negotiation courses, which helped her deal with various conflict-resolution situations in her career. She also has experience in adult education, as she worked as an education consultant for the John Howard Society and also Employment Standards. Joanna holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Alberta with a major in Social Sciences and has completed the Leadership Challenge Program through the Government of Alberta. She loves the outdoors and is a certified scuba diver. “I am looking forward to working for HSAA as a Labour Relations Officer and I am proud to be a voice for our members!”

Janet Neufeld,Administration summer student (Edmonton)

Janet Neufeld will be working as an Administrative Assistant at HSAA’s Edmonton office until the end of August. As well as helping transfer files to our digital storage system, Docushare, she will also be helping in our membership department and covering for other Administrative Assistants on vacation. She has spent many years in the service industry and says she’s loving the opportunity to experience a different work environment with HSAA. With small-town roots, she has spent time giving back to the community by volunteering in classrooms at a local school. She has also gone as far as the Dominican Republic to volunteer in building homes for families in need. She has spent some time helping out with the Good Samaritan Foundation in the Dominican Republic. “After taking a few years off to travel and work, I am now studying at NAIT, hoping to obtain a career in accounting,” says Neufeld. “I hope to gain more knowledge and experience than anything else during my summer here at HSAA.”

Meryl Price,Administrative Assistant (Calgary)

Meryl Price joined HSAA when she moved back to Alberta after seven years of living in Abbotsford B.C., where she worked as a legal assistant for a labour relations and human rights lawyer in a private office. Meryl says that regardless of what office position she has held over the last 25 years, “assistant” has been the constant in her job and what she loves to do. “I am thrilled to have the opportunity to work for HSAA in Calgary and be a part of team that is working toward the greater good of employees,” she says. “My first job has always been Mom to my two boys. My oldest graduated last year and is working away as an apprentice pipefitter and I live in the lovely town of Cochrane, with my younger son.”

Lisa Yasinski, Health & Safety co-op summer student (Edmonton)

Lisa is studying for a diploma in Occupational Health and Safety at NAIT. As part of the two-year program, students must gain industry work experience over the summer. Working with Ray Geldreich, HSAA’s Health and Safety Advisor, Lisa will have the opportunity to learn about the OH&S field hands on. She will be working on various projects over the duration of the summer that will help improve the health and safety of both HSAA members and employees. She is looking forward to learning more about the safety side of the health-care industry and using the knowledge she gains to help complete her last year of studies this fall.

SEPTEMBERSept. 8 - International Literacy DaySept. 21 - International Day of Peace

OCTOBERWomen’s History MonthOct. 1 - International Day of Older PersonsOct. 10 - World Mental Health DayOct. 11 - International Day of the Girl ChildOct. 17 - International Day for the Eradication of PovertyOct. 18 - Persons DayThird week in October - Citizenship WeekOct. 24 - United Nations Day

NOVEMBERFamily Violence Prevention MonthNov. 5 - 11 - Veterans’ WeekThird week in November - National Bullying Awareness WeekNov. 16 - International Day for ToleranceNov. 20 - Universal Children’s DayFourth Saturday - Ukrainian Famine and Genocide Memorial DayNov. 25 - International Day to End Violence Against Women

Mark these dates for human rights and diversity!

26 Challenger

IN MEMORY/dId YOU KNOW?

Anne Cisna passed away suddenly on Thursday, April 30, 2015, at the age of 51.

She was employed in the Diagnostic Imaging Department at the Northern Lights Regional Health Centre (NLRHC), Fort McMurray, as a Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Technologist. She had worked for Alberta Health Services (AHS) since 2005.

Anne was born in Assiniboia, Sask. In 1990, she attended SIAST (Saskatoon) with a college entrance scholarship. In 1993, she graduated with her Medical Radiologic Technology (MRT) diploma and acquired several awards, including the Squibb award for highest mark in anatomy and the Kodak award for highest mark in imaging recording. She worked in Saskatoon from 1993 until summer 2005. She then moved to Fort McMurray as a Medical Radiation Technologist (MRT) and acquired her MRI certificate in 2008.

Along with her years of dedication to patient care, Anne was a beloved wife of Stan for 33 years and an amazing mother of three to Andrew, Diamond and Jeratt (her adopted foster son). She was also like a mother to many of her children’s friends.

The soundtrack of her life was her enthusiastic, generous laugh. Her presence brightened a room, touched a heart and changed lives for the better.

Anne’s spirit of philanthropy was seen in her significant contribution to a number of community projects including the Fort McMurray Family Crisis Society; the Fort McMurray Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA); Santas Anonymous; fostering children; and helping underprivileged families throughout the year. She was nominated for the Spirit Award with AHS for her continuous dedication and contributions.

One of our co-workers summed up Anne beautifully: If only more people were like Anne…• Who are able to laugh;• Open minded;• Playful;• Carefree;• Determined;• Adventurous; and• See people for who they are, not what they look like.That was our Anne!(This tribute to Anne was written by Winona Winsor,

with contributions by the Diagnostic Imaging department, NLRHC and Anne’s family.)

Anne Cisna remembered for generous laughHELPING OTHERS: Anne Cisna was involved in lots of philanthropic projects, including gathering gifts for Santas Anonymous.

IT PAYS TO BELONg TO

DID YOU KNOW ... That HSAA members receive 10 per cent off at Mark’s (formerly known as Mark’s Work Wearhouse)?Simply contact the HSAA office and request a discount card (if you don’t already have one) and start saving – just by being a member of HSAA.

dId YOU KNOW ...

IT PAYS TO BELONg TO

Challenger 27

NEW hQ/RETIREMENTS

• ERIC ANDERSONBiomedical Equipment TechnologistAlberta Children’s Hospital, Calgary• LAURIE BENTZResearch Evaluation OfficerBarrhead Community Health Services• MONIQUE BIELECHPharmacistGlenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Edmonton• MARY DAHRLaboratory TechnologistQueen Elizabeth II Hospital, Grande Prairie• NOREEN EYOLFSONLaboratory TechnologistSt. Mary’s Hospital, Camrose• SHEILA EPPLaboratory TechnologistDrumheller Health Centre• GAIL FARMERMedical Radiation TechnologistNortheast Community Health Centre, Edmonton• JUDY FITZPATRICKPublic Health InspectorWetaskiwin Community Health Centre• NADIA GOLDSocial WorkerRoyal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton• MALCOLM GRISTRespiratory TherapistRoyal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton• LOUISE HANSENRespiratory TherapistRoyal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton

• GEORGE KARAKIMedical Radiation TechnologistPincher Creek Community Health Centre• GRACE KINEMedical Radiation TechnologistNorthern Lights Regional Health Centre, Fort McMurray• CORY LAMBERTRadiation Therapy Equipment Service SpecialistCross Cancer Institute, Edmonton• CONNIE LAULaboratory TechnologistUniversity of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton• HEATHER LINDSAYRespiratory TherapistMisericordia Community Hospital, Edmonton• MAGGIE LORENCEMedical Radiation TechnologistRoyal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton• AUDREY McINTYRELaboratory AssistantCalgary Laboratory Services• ALEXIS McKECHNIEEMT ParamedicLinden EMS• COLLEEN MILNEAddictions CounsellorRed Deer Provincial Building• GRACE MOROZIUKSocial WorkerVegreville Home Care and Public Health/Rehab• JAMES MORRISONPsychologistAlberta Hospital Edmonton

• CATHERINE MULLANEYSocial WorkerGrande Prairie Nordic Court• ANDREA MULYKMedical Radiation TechnologistRoyal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton• SANDRA PEYTONLaboratory TechnologistRockyview General Hospital, Calgary• CATHERINE PONLaboratory TechnologistWestlock Healthcare Centre• JANICE REEVERespiratory TherapistChinook Regional Hospital, Lethbridge• BRIAN SCHMIDTElectronics TechnicianAlberta Hospital Edmonton• LOREEN STANLAKEMedical Radiation TechnologistRoyal Alexandra Hospital, Edmonton• SARITA TIKUPharmacy TechnicianFoothills Medical Centre, Calgary• CAROL TINGELaboratory TechnologistHinton Healthcare Centre• STEPHEN WREAKESMedical PhotographerUniversity of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton

RETIREMENTS

By Trudy Thomson,HSAA Project Manager

It is so exciting to see our new headquarters taking shape – walls are

going up, windows have been framed and the land is being prepared for the parking lot. I’m spending more and more time on site as decisions need to be made with quick turnaround times. As you can see the deck is built on the members’ floor, but not quite ready for this year’s BBQ season. Please continue to check out the website for monthly photo updates. We don’t want you to miss a thing!

HQ taking shape!ATTENTION TO DETAIL: Project manager Trudy Thomson, left, and HSAA president Elisabeth Ballermann, centre, make sure everything’s going according to plan.

Photo by Terry Inigo-Jones, HSAA

Health Sciences Association of Alberta10212 112 StreetEdmonton, AB T5K 1M4780-488-01681-800-252-7904www.hsaa.ca

Check www.hsaa.ca for upcoming events

Bullying &Harassment

Edmonton - Nov. 24Calgary - Dec. 1

Duty to Accommodate

Edmonton - Sept. 17Calgary - Oct. 1

Know Your Rights

Calgary - Nov. 10Edmonton - Nov. 12

Contract Interpretation

Edmonton - Sept. 8Calgary - Sept. 10

Local UnitExecutive Rep II*

Edmonton - Sept. 15-16Calgary - Sept. 29-30

Local UnitExecutive Rep III**

Calgary - Nov. 4-5Edmonton - Nov. 25-26

In-Scope Supervisor

Calgary - Dec. 2Edmonton - Dec. 9

*LUE Rep II is open only to Local Unit Executive Reps who have completed LUE Rep I.**LUE Rep III is open only to Local Unit Executives Reps who have completed LUE Rep I and II.For more information, please contact Susan Phelan at susanp@hsaa.ca or 1-800-252-7904. The Calgary workshop location is the Clarion Hotel/Conference Centre and the Edmonton workshop location is the Chateau Lacombe. HSAA Steward Training I and II location is Stoneridge Resort in Canmore.

Now that you have completed LUER I, we will enhance your chairing skills by providing an introduction to parliamentary procedure, practising public speaking and discovering your leadership style. We’ll also take you on a trip through the bargaining process and some collective agreement language, further defining your role in the local unit. At the end of the two days, you will be ready to take on level III. *NOTE: This workshop is open to Local Unit Executive Representatives only. Once completed, you are welcome to register for Local Unit Executive Representative III!

Leadership, Politics, Advocacy and Activism: After two full days, you will have learned how to adapt your leadership style and discovered your unique abilities to engage your members and the public. You ARE a leader! This workshop simply provides you with the skills and tools to educate your local unit, your community or your province about issues that matter to HSAA members and the public and motivate them to work toward change. **NOTE: This workshop is only open to Local Unit Executive Representatives who have completed Local Unit Executive Representative I and II.

The goal of this full-day workshop is to improve communication between HSAA and our supervisory members through an increased understanding of each other’s roles, expectations and concerns. Focus is placed on education regarding dispute resolution, progressive discipline, performance evaluation and seniority and how it relates to promotion, transfer and vacation preferences. Participants learn to strike an appropriate balance between their in-scope supervisory functions and their accountability to senior management.

The focus of this one-day workshop is creating a basic understanding of how to read and understand your collective agreement language. You will walk away with a renewed sense of your rights in the workplace and the tools and skills to continue educating yourself long after the workshop is over.NOTE: Please bring your collective agreements with you!

We will address many questions that arise out of the employer’s duty to accommodate injury and disability in the work-place. How far must employers go to accommodate a sick or disabled employee? What constitutes undue hardship for an employer? Is an employer required to create a position for a sick or disabled employee? We’ll also look at the obligations of the union, the employee and their colleagues in the context of this duty.

Have you or your co-workers been bullied or harassed in the workplace? This practical workshop will provide an introduction to both of these concepts. We will discuss the causes and impacts, the roles of those involved and how to address and prevent bullying and harassment.

Did you know staff injury rates in health care continue to rise every year, while most other industries are seeing reductions? Attend this workshop to learn the employer’s responsibilities to you and how to stand up for your legal right to a safe workplace. We will provide an overview of current workplace injury trends to health-care workers and an understanding of some key components of occupational health and safety legislation. Strategies for effectively representing yourself and fellow members on Joint Workplace Health and Safety Committees will also be discussed including how to resolve more complex safety issues.

Safe and Sound

Edmonton - Dec. 8Calgary - Dec. 10

How often do you think about or talk about psychological health and safety in the workplace? By age 40 almost 50 per cent of the Canadian population will have suffered from mental illness at some point in their lives; yet in comparison to our physical health we rarely discuss it. This one-day workshop will give you the tools to combat stress and improve your mental health focusing on resilience skills for life’s ups and downs. You will learn the effects of the workplace on mental health, the signs and symptoms of potential mental illness and when it may be time to seek help for yourself or others.

Influencing Difficult People

Edmonton - Oct. 6Calgary - Oct. 8

Are there just some people who rub you the wrong way? In a diverse organization, difficulties between personal styles can cause real tension, stress and conflict. In this session you will learn about the style differences that most often create difficulties in the workplace, what your and other’s style preferences are and how these might clash. Finally, how to get on the same page and speak the same language to prevent and address these patterns.

HSAA Steward I Training

Canmore - Nov. 30-Dec. 4

HSAA Steward II Training

Canmore - Sept. 21-25Canmore - Nov. 16-20

Upcoming HSAA Workshops