For immediate release: Monday, Nov. 3, 2003

EDMONTON — In historic votes counted today, general support service employees in Calgary and Edmonton chose the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees as their union.

“We are delighted by the outcome of this vote and we will work hard to make the nearly 4,400 members from other
unions who will now join us feel at home in this union,” AUPE President Dan MacLennan said today.

Results of the Bill 27 union-representation vote in the Capital Health Region were announced by the Alberta Labour Relations Board just before mid-day. Results of the vote in the Calgary Health Region were announced mid-afternoon.

The votes mean AUPE will be the union for approximately 5,000 Calgary-area and 4,800 Edmonton-area general support service employees.

AUPE and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) were on the ballots counted today, which were mailed in to the Alberta Labour Relations Board over the summer,.

Members of AUPE, CUPE, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA) and the International Union of Operating Engineers who worked in general support jobs for the two largest Alberta health regions were entitled to vote.

According to this morning’s count of Capital Health Region votes, AUPE received 1,479 votes and CUPE received 1,125. In addition, 17 ballots were spoiled and 44 were set aside in sealed envelopes because of questions raised by scrutineers.

In the Calgary Health Region vote counted this afternoon, there were 1,743 votes for AUPE and 1,323 for CUPE. Fifteen ballots were spoiled and seven were sealed.

The results of the votes mean AUPE will be joined by approximately 4,400 new members in Alberta’s two most populous cities. In both health regions, the majority of those new members had been members of CUPE. (AUPE stood to lose more than 2,500 members in the Edmonton vote, and more than 2,800 in the Calgary vote.)

This morning’s count marks the start of three days’ of ballot counting by the Labour Relations Board in the Bill 27 runoff process. Union runoff votes were held this summer between AUPE and CUPE affecting more than 13,000 health region general support service employees throughout Alberta.

Because of the very large numbers of health region employees affected, the votes are among the most significant events in the history of the Alberta labour movement, MacLennan said.

“Employees involved in these votes took them very seriously — the return rate on the mail-in ballots provided by the Labour Relations Board was high everywhere,” MacLennan said.

The votes were mandated by Bill 27 — provincial legislation passed last March that restructures labour relations in Alberta’s nine health regions.

“We’re relieved these ballots are being counted at last,” MacLennan said. “A very large number of health region employees have had their lives disrupted by these votes, and they deserve to be able to get on with their jobs.

“AUPE has run a good campaign that informed general support employees of the benefits of being part of our union, which we truly believe is the best union to represent the interests of Alberta health workers,” MacLennan said. “Today’s important vote results make us feel very good about our campaign.”

Vote counting for other health regions by the Labour Relations Board will continue through Tuesday and Wednesday.

On Tuesday, starting at 9 a.m., ballots will be counted from runoff votes in the East Central Health Region followed by the Peace Country Health Region. On Wednesday, starting at 9 a.m., ballots will be counted from the David Thompson Health Region and Aspen Health Region runoff votes.

In another Bill 27 runoff vote, counted on Sept. 10, more than 750 auxiliary nursing care employees in the East Central Health Region voted overwhelmingly to be represented by AUPE.

That result confirmed AUPE as the sole union for auxiliary nursing staff in all nine Alberta health regions. In the other eight Alberta health regions, AUPE had already been named the union for auxiliary nurses without a vote
being required because it represented more than 80 per cent of the bargaining unit members in the region.

AUPE now represents all 8,500 auxiliary nursing care employees of Alberta’s nine health regions.

Ballots are being counted at the Labour Relations Board headquarters in Edmonton.

For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-232-8392 (NEW cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)