For immediate release: Friday, Jan. 16, 2004

DIDSBURY — General support service workers at the Didsbury Hospital have voted to be represented by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

The vote Thursday afternoon means AUPE now represents all general support service employees of the Calgary Health Region.

“We welcome this group of health care workers to our union,” said AUPE President Dan MacLennan. “Clearly, they concluded that it did not make sense to be the only group of general support service employees in the entire region without the benefits of union representation.”

AUPE Labour Relations Manager Ron Hodgins said AUPE will strive to achieve the same level of representation in other health regions where a few general support service worksites remain without union representation.

“The value of membership in Alberta’s largest union is obvious to health care workers,” Hodgins said.

“We now have wall-to-wall certification among general support service workers in the Calgary Health Region,” Hodgins added. “Our objective is to reach the same level of representation in the other regions.”

The group of about 50 full-time employees and 15 casual workers in Didsbury were without union representation when they were transferred into the jurisdiction of the Calgary Health Region in early October. The change took place when the border between the CHR and the David Thompson Health Region was redrawn by the province.

As a result of union-representation runoff votes required by Bill 27, passed by the Alberta Legislature last March, AUPE now represents all unionized health region general support service employees in six of Alberta’s nine health regions. AUPE was not on the ballot in the other three health regions.

AUPE also represents all unionized health region auxiliary nursing care employees of all nine Alberta health regions.

AUPE is Alberta’s largest union, with approximately 58,000 members. About 28,000 of those Albertans work in the health care sector.

For more information, contact:

Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-232-8392 (cellular phone)

Ron Hodgins, Labour relations Manager, AUPE, 780-930-3344 or 780-982-6000 (cellular phone)

Karen Thibault, Union Representative, AUPE (Calgary Regional Office), 403-531-8610 or 403-542-7791 (cellular phone)

David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)