UNA stands with striking AUPE members at Symphony Aspen Ridge in Red Deer

United Nurses of Alberta supports members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees now on strike against the Symphony Aspen Ridge facility in Red Deer.

“UNA members are grateful to these courageous health care workers for standing up for fair treatment in the workplace and for their effort to ensure this private, for-profit seniors’ facility operator from Ontario delivers on proper care to residents,” said UNA President Heather Smith.

The AUPE members went on strike yesterday in an effort to reach a first collective agreement with Toronto-based Symphony Senior Living Inc., which operates seniors’ facilities in Alberta and Quebec. The company maintains 30-per-cent to 40-per-cent profit margins by spending less on caregivers and other essentials, AUPE says.

On Jan. 21, the company informed Alberta Health Services it was cancelling an agreement with the province-wide public health authority to provide 49 publicly funded long-term care beds.

Symphony Operations Vice-President Kim Van Dam, who signed the letter to the AHS executive director for the Central Region, indicated the company has concluded its profit would not be sufficient at the staffing levels required by AHS for subsidized seniors’ supportive care given AUPE’s wage demands.

As a result, Van Dam said, the company was giving AHS and the residents one year to find other accommodation.

“AUPE’s members are fighting for all health care workers and for our public health care system,” said Smith. “UNA members stand in solidarity with them during this important effort.”

Smith noted that UNA members at the Devonshire Care Centre in Edmonton recently resolved a difficult round of negotiations for a first collective agreement that was reached only after a two-week strike against another private, for-profit, out-of-province corporation.

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