Alberta Union of Provincial Employees

AUPE News & Updates

Member Updates

Literally thousands attend AUPE barbecues, thousands more expected

Index of barbecue photographs at bottom of page

EDMONTON – Literally thousands of AUPE members and supporters from other unions have already attended AUPE barbecues in Calgary and elsewhere throughout Alberta in the past week and a half.

Thousands more are expected at barbecues scheduled this week throughout the Edmonton area as the Bill 27 runoff votes campaign continues.

"When we see more than 2,400 people at a single barbecue in Calgary, we know that support for AUPE is very strong among health region employees," said AUPE President Dan MacLennan.

MacLennan was referring to the June 11 barbecue at Foothills Medical Centre in Calgary, where more than 2,400 people attended, picked up AUPE campaign literature and such items as AUPE water bottles and buttons.

Crowds ranging from a few hundred to nearly 1,000 have enjoyed Alberta beef at barbecues at such health care facilities as the Rockyview Hospital and Peter Lougheed Hospital in Calgary, Alberta Hospital Edmonton, Alberta Hospital Ponoka, the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital in Edmonton and the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital in Grande Prairie.

In all, more than 5,000 people have attended the AUPE barbecues held so far.

At least another 5,000 people are expected to attend AUPE barbecues scheduled this week in Edmonton and such nearby communities as St. Albert, Leduc, Stony Plain, Fort Saskatchewan and Devon.

A key aim of the barbecues is to give AUPE members the opportunity to tell the members of other unions about the benefits of membership in Alberta’s largest and most effective union, and to encourage them to vote for AUPE as their union in the runoff votes required by Bill 27, the government’s legislation that restructures labour relations in Alberta’s nine health region.

AUPE is serving Alberta beef at its barbecues in a gesture of solidarity with Alberta’s beef industry. Click here for an appreciative response from an Alberta beef producer.

Picture albums from some of the barbecues will be posted here as they take place.

June 4 - Peter Lougheed Centre, Calgary

June 5 – Calgary Health Region Warehouse

June 9 - Rockyview General Hospital, Calgary

June 10 & 11 - Grande Prairie and High Prairie hospitals

June 10 - Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary

June 11 - Alberta Hospital Edmonton

June 11 - Foothills Hospital, Calgary

June 12 - Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital, Edmonton

June 12 - Lacombe Hospital

June 13 - Athabasca Health Care Centre

June 16 - University of Alberta Hospital, Edmonton

June 16 - Red Deer