More than 100 at Red Deer info picket press for solutions to Child and Family Services understaffing, caseloads
RED DEER – More than 100 AUPE Local 006 members and their supporters held a boisterous lunch-hour information picket today to make it clear that the province needs to deal with understaffing and heavy caseloads facing Child and Family Services workers.
The Child and Family Services workers’ picket in front of the Red Deer Provincial Building was bolstered by delegates to AUPE’s General Services Bargaining Conference, who included some of their colleagues from elsewhere in the province.
“Today’s turnout shows the level of concern among AUPE’s members who work in the social services, and the support they enjoy in other sectors of our union,” said AUPE President Doug Knight, who took part in the information picket.
“Understaffing, shorter timelines for intervention and heavier workloads all put families and children at risk,” Knight said. “AUPE members want to ensure that it doesn’t take a tragedy to get the action needed to fix this critical situation.”
Participants in the information picket expressed skepticism about recent reports in the Red Deer media that recruitment now under way will be sufficient to solve the problems with understaffing and heavy caseloads in the region.
The staffing problem illustrates the challenges the government faces as an employer recruiting and retaining employees during the province’s current economic boom, Knight said.
“The government needs to show it takes seriously the concerns of its employees who do this important work,” he said.
Local 006 represents social services workers who are directly employed by the provincial government.
After the information picket, delegates to the two-day bargaining conference returned to their final session of deliberations.
Photo: More than 100 AUPE members and their supporters participated in a noon-hour information picket in front of the Red Deer Provincial Building Jan. 26 in support of Child and Family Services workers and their clients.