Hundreds protest outside of Chinook Regional Hospital. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Hundreds protest against proposed cuts to Alberta’s public sector workforce

Jan 21, 2020 | 1:44 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Healthcare workers, members of the public sector, and those from the general public took to the picket lines outside of Chinook Regional Hospital Tuesday.

In his first budget last October, Finance Minister Travis Toews announced that the provincial government plans to reduce the overall size of the public sector workforce by 7.7%, which will primarily happen through attrition.

Toews later said the province will be asking arbitrators to impose a 2% wage cut for collective bargaining agreements that are being negotiated between the government and unions.

Vice President of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) Karen Weiers says they felt they needed to stand up and show their opposition.

“What you see here today is a lot of anger. These front-line workers are angry with the cuts the government is proposing and that should be a huge concern, not only for the members that are front-line workers but for all Albertans because their services will be affected.”

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Weiers says as many as 5,900 AUPE members could be impacted by the cuts, which does not include workers that are part of other unions that deal with the province. She did not know how many employees might be effected in Lethbridge.

President of United Nurses of Alberta Local 120 Margie Emes adds that healthcare appears to be targeted quite heavily by the UCP’s cuts.

“We feel that less nurses is going to impact care and it will not improve access and it will not improve the efficiency of our services. They’re looking to propose privatization and further that in our existing system. That just means that those who are the most marginalized will suffer.”

Emes says some sections of Chinook Regional Hospital are already understaffed, so a further loss of jobs would harm both the remaining nurses and those seeking care.

She told media that she only wants to be able to renegotiate collective agreements with the province that will not result in healthcare workers being laid off.

While the protest in Lethbridge has already concluded, there will be another one in Claresholm between 1 Street and 2 Street from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm on Tuesday, January 21.