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1964
Dispute Between AARN and AHA
The AARN was advised that to become the bargaining agent on behalf of Alberta nurses, it would have to obtain an amendment to the Registered Nurses’ Act of 1916.
At the AARN’s Annual Meeting nurses urged the AARN to pressure the AHA for improved wages, for a voice in the delivery of patient care, and for a grievance procedure.
Serious disputes took place between the AARN and the AHA over premiums for education and over salaries. Two general membership meetings were held in October 1964 and nurses strongly urged the AARN to pursue collective bargaining rights.
The refusal of the Board of the Calgary General Hospital to recognize its Staff Nurse Association voluntarily, lead to the nurses’ successful application for certification as a bargaining unit. The nurses at the Lethbridge Municipal Hospital and the Royal Alexandra Hospital followed suit shortly afterwards.
A group of medical clinic nurses in Calgary staged a brief and somewhat unsuccessful strike.
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