Post-Secondary Workers' Actions
On November 5, about 250 post-secondary education (PSE) and
other workers rallied outside the University Hospital in Edmonton to
express their unbending support for Alberta's health care workers. The
PSE workers were from CUPE Local 3911 (representing tutors, markers,
academic experts and lab instructors employed by Athabasca University),
the Athabasca University Faculty
Association, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees,
the Association of Academic Staff of the University of Alberta, the
Non-Academic Staff Association of the University of Alberta, and the
Confederation of Alberta Faculty Associations.  Workers
from the United Nurses of Alberta, the Health Sciences Association of
Alberta, the United Food and Commercial Workers, Seniors Action and
Liaison Team, and the Alberta Federation of Labour also rallied with
the PSE workers. A similar noon hour event was held simultaneously in
Calgary at the Chumir Health Centre.
The PSE
workers at the University Hospital rally carried signs such as "Public
Care Not Private," "Solidarity with Health Care Workers," "An Injury to
One is an Injury to All," "Health Care Cuts Never Heal," "Fire Kenney
Not Workers" and "Stop Jason and the Golden Fleecers," as well as
waving their colourful union flags. The protesters
went on a short march near the hospital, shouting slogans in support of
the health care workers. The most popular slogan was "Hey Hey! Ho Ho!
Jason Kenney's Got to Go!" Previously, on October
26, hundreds of health care workers at over 40 worksites across Alberta
walked off the job to protest plans by the provincial government to
outsource 11,000 health care jobs and to privatize crucial parts of the
health care system. Health care workers have been working tirelessly
for communities since the beginning
of the COVID-19 pandemic, and took a courageous stand for public
health care. The November 5 lunch hour picket was an opportunity for
the PSE and other workers to recognize the health care workers' courage
and to show unwavering support for them and for public health care. More
pickets will be held in the future.
This article was published in
Number 76 - November 10, 2020
Article Link:
Post-Secondary Workers' Actions
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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