For immediate release: Apr. 1, 2003

EDMONTON – Alberta Union of Provincial Employees President Dan MacLennan will be available throughout the day today to comment on the regulations to Bill 27, which were made available to the leaders of affected unions for the first time just before noon Monday.

Bill 27 – the Labour Relations (Regional Health Authorities restructuring) Amendment Act, 2003 – received Royal Assent on March 27, 2003, and has major implications for health care workers and their unions.

The act takes away the legal right to strike from large numbers of health care workers and nullifies provisions of legally negotiated contracts.

In addition, it creates four "functional bargaining units" for each of the nine regional health authorities – in general support services, direct nursing, paramedical and professional, and auxiliary nursing care. Each bargaining unit will have one collective agreement and one union.

The government says the act will be fully implemented by the fall of 2004. This will result in runoff votes in some health regions between unions who now represent employees doing the same jobs.

The process for implementation of the act depended heavily on the regulations, which were not made available to the affected unions until Monday.

AUPE is in the process of mapping out a plan of action to be presented to their Health Care Local Executives and Provincial Executive on April 11 and 12.

MacLennan, who expects to be in Edmonton throughout the day today, will be prepared to make preliminary comments on the impact of the regulations and the act in person or by telephone.

AUPE has also commenced legal action to protect legal contract provisions for mental health clinic staff previously employed by the Alberta Mental Health Board. "We are also reviewing other legal issues regarding Bill 27 and the regulations governing the act now that we have the regulations" said MacLennan.

For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)