The four current Geriatric Units at Alberta Hospital Edmonton (AHE) and the Geriatric Clinic at the Hys Centre will be transferring to Villa Caritas at the Misericordia Hospital Site in October 2010.
Nurses within the program will be given position eliminations/transfer notification letters on August 25 or 26, 2010 and will be given the option of following the geriatric program and change employers from Alberta Health Services (AHS) to Covenant Health. There are more vacancies (FTEs and positions) at Villa Caritas than are being reduced at the AHE and the Hys Centre.
For nurses who decide not to change employers, there is the option of exercising their rights under Article 15 of the Collective Agreement which allows them to: 'take a vacancy; displace or accept a layoff.'
Nurses who choose not to take an AHS vacancy will be given the option to displace (or bump) commencing in September. Employees with two or more years of service can displace anywhere within AHS into positions in which they have the ability to do the work and have more seniority than the incumbent. A person who has been displaced is not restricted by their current FTE when making position selections.
The Collective Agreement states that a nurse displacing into a unit must choose the most junior position within a specific FTE and shift pattern.
Following these changes, there will be an increase in vacancies within the Edmonton area, meaning that no nurse will be without work unless that is their choice. Unfortunately for some, the work may not be on their unit of first preference.
UNA has been participating in transfer discussions and the dates for the actual position eliminations have only been recently declared. Approximately sixty nurses will be directly affected. It is unlikely that all of them will transfer with the program. Those who transfer will have the same hours of work, same pension plan, same scheduling rules, and substantially the same benefit package. The impact on the AHS nurses not directly affected by the transfer is unknown until the individual transfer decisions occur.
UNA will post more information on our website as we receive it. |
