For immediate release: Saturday, Nov. 1, 2003

EDMONTON — The Alberta Labour Relations Board will begin counting ballots Monday in union runoff votes 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, said Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) President Dan MacLennan.

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

On Monday morning starting at 9 a.m., ballots will be counted to determine the results of voting last summer by general support service employees in Edmonton’s Capital Health Region to determine if they will be represented by AUPE or the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

Monday afternoon starting at 1 p.m., ballots will be counted to determine whether AUPE or CUPE will represent general support service employees of the Calgary Health Region.

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

“We’re very glad these vote counts are finally taking place,” 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.

Vote counting for other health regions by the Labour Relations Board will then 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.

The David Thompson and Aspen votes being counted Wednesday are second ballots. Three unions — AUPE, CUPE and the Health Sciences Association of Alberta — were on the ballot in the first vote in those two regions.

After that vote, which was counted on Sept. 10, HSAA was dropped off after it received the lowest number of votes.

AUPE emerged from both the votes David Thompson and Aspen first-ballot votes in the leading position.

In another Bill 27 runoff vote, also counted Sept. 10, more than 750 auxiliary nursing care employees in the East Central Health Region voted overwhelmingly to be represented by AUPE. AUPE, with 82 per cent of that vote, soundly defeated CUPE in that contest.

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.

Ballots will be counted at the Alberta Labour Relations Board headquarters in Edmonton. AUPE will provide information to members and media on the vote counts as soon as it is available.

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)