For Immediate Release Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Memo orders nurses
to take all breaks
AHS blocks UNA website from hospitals
EDMONTON – An Alberta Health Services memo to nurses and other employees at the Royal Alexandra Hospital in Edmonton demands they take all their breaks, unless "approved in advance by Management."
In a matter of days, nurses have apparently gone from too many "tea times" (according to CEO Stephen Duckett) to required to take every break.
"Nurses often miss their breaks, and take them later if they can, because that's the nature of working with patients," says Jane Sustrik. "This AHS order is ridiculous. It is a foolish reaction to media reports about how many nurses often miss breaks."
Today, it also appears that Alberta Health Services is blocking UNA's website from AHS computers in Edmonton and other workplaces. The message that comes up is 'inappropriate content' the same as for youtube, hotmail, and other sites.
"Do they think they are going to stop nurses from reading about Duckett's remarks by blocking our site? This petty censorship is not going to work," says Jane Sustrik.
On September 18, UNA filed a Code of Conduct complaint against CEO Stephen Duckett for misrepresenting nursing work in a number of ways including his statement that: "Not only that, in order to get that money they work fewer hours because of the length of time for lunch breaks and morning tea breaks and afternoon tea breaks and coffee breaks and everything else." UNA pointed out that nurses get two 15 minute breaks, like most employees and no different than nurses across Canada. And in the short-staffed and over-loaded environment of our health system nurses often miss breaks.
"The memo is almost menacing in tone," Sustrik points out.
It reads: "Failure to comply with contract compliant breaks will be dealt with appropriately."
"You almost wonder if nurses are going to be ordered to be cheerful and have good morale, now," Jane Sustrik says. "This is just another big faux pas from Alberta Health Services. Duckett is just NOT doing anything to maintain employee morale at all."
Meanwhile, on his blog (comments, Sept. 17), CEO Duckett says it should be fine if nurses don't get breaks.
"The current nursing Collective Agreement includes provision for various breaks. If no one takes them, it should not be an issue if they were to be removed, or at least harmonized with what is provided in other provinces. Best wishes Stephen."
UNA points out that two fifteen minute breaks IS exactly what nurses in 9 out of 10 provinces get.
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For more information and contact UNA 2nd Vice-President Jane Sustrik 780 915-6237
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