AUPE president awaiting meeting with Alta. premier, hopes for relationship built on mutual respect

The president of Alberta's largest union is looking forward to meeting with the premier and hopes her promise of redesigning health-care system management will be toned down.

Redesigning Alberta Health Services may cause further instability, said Guy Smith, Alberta Union of Provincial Employees president.

From Oct. 27 to 29, the union is hosting its annual convention, and for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic, members will meet in person.

More than 1,000 union delegates representing 95,000 members of public servants, healthcare, education and municipality staff, will participate in the proceedings.

He told CTV News Edmonton that Danielle Smith marks the seventh premier he will have worked with during his time as an executive member of the union's board.

Despite the premier delivering speeches saying drastic changes are ahead for the public service, Guy says he eagerly awaits initial discussions and has an open mind.

"I've reached out to her to try and build a relationship," Guy said. "I know she's extremely busy and we will see what happens."

"It's a fundamental relationship between AUPE… and the premier."

MUTUAL RESPECT

Earlier this week, members representing AUPE, the Canadian Union of Public Employees, United Nurses of Alberta, and Health Sciences Association of Alberta called for a meeting with the premier to go over improvements to the province's health-care system.

That same day, cabinet approved an order-in-council delegating care of legislation to the new portfolios created by Danielle Smith that missed the province's Occupation Health and Safety Act (OHSA), legislation responsible for worksite safety regulations, labour relations and collective bargaining.

The labour minister would normally look after the OHSA and Labour Relations Code, but the new provincial government has folded that mandate into two new ministries, with Kaycee Madu leading skilled trades and professions, and Brian Jean as jobs, economy, and northern development minister.

Chloe Carr, Jean's press secretary, confirmed that the OHSA was not overlooked and that it would be part of his portfolio.

She added that public sector collective bargaining will continue within its normal government channels, involving the finance minister.

Despite the hiccup, Guy Smith says his approach is always to build mutual respect.

"Even though we are going to disagree on a lot of things, in order to resolve issues before they become problems, to be able to pick up the phone and talk about things, you have to have that relationship," Guy added.

"I'm hoping she takes us up on it, but regardless of whether she does or not, we always have to prepare our members for what a government may do."

'DISMANTLING' AHS NOT THE WAY TO GO: AUPE

His biggest apprehension is Premier Smith's rhetoric about restructuring Alberta Health Services.

The premier has previously blamed AHS bureaucracy, and vaccine mandates as reasons wait times have surged at hospitals, saying the "amazing frontline staff" have "far too many managers."

The vast majority of health-care workers did get vaccinated against the coronavirus and public health experts have previously said the premier's analysis of the delays plaguing Alberta hospitals has been "ill-informed."

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"She recognizes we need more staff on the frontlines of healthcare," Guy said. "I'm a little concerned that by dismantling what is a very large structure or somehow upsetting how AHS operates is not the way to go."

As the province continues to deal with COVID-19 patients and the backlog of medical procedures postponed over the past few years, Guy Smith says the system needs resources and stability, not "blowing AHS apart."

"We need more stability, not less."

He said he looks forward to reviewing the mandate letters the premier will deliver to each of her 26 cabinet ministers, which she says will be open for the public to review.

Mandate letters outline the overall objectives and top priorities a premier has for each cabinet portfolio. They are expected to be delivered next week.

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KENNEY GOVERNMENT ALSO WANTED 'ROLLBACKS'

During his address to the convention, Guy Smith noted how an adversarial government tone doesn't always translate to immediate actions.

"(The) Jason Kenney government came out of the starting gate building what they believed to be justification for forced rollbacks across all public services," he told delegates. "They believed (at the time) that with their massive majority, they had a mandate from Albertans to do so.

"They believed that unions such as ours would buckle under aggressive government posturing and rhetoric," Guy added.

He credited public pressure and union strength as barriers to the province from enacting large-scale privatization and job loss.

While Guy recognized not all collective agreements reached in the past three years contained "the level of gains" expected, the next round of upcoming negotiations will require more union solidarity within the AUPE and with other labour movements.

"In my opinion, the labour caucus needs to continue its work into the future, regardless of what the political landscape might be, look like, after the next election," he added.

"I remind all the other unions that even during the time of the NDP government, that we faced many and often unique challenges that compelled unions to keep working together."

With files from CTV News Edmonton's Jessica Robb and Alex Antoneshyn