9th Floor, Park Plaza
10611 - 98 Avenue
Edmonton,· Alberta
T5K 2P7

VOLUME 15 NUMBER 4

UNI'fED NURSES OJ:i' ALBERTA

-

··~=-

/

Third Troilitme

CIMa c:e..e

........ No. 3100
~

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DECEMBER 1991/JANUARY 1992

'~ 'fime Of Change"
Heather Smith's Address to the United Nurses of Alberta 1991 AGM

I' m going to take a very serious tone in terms of my
official opening comments. I 've been a little bit torn
about how to start this speech because there are a
couple of different lead-ins. One year ago at this time,
exactly a year ago, Trudy Richardson and I had what
was probably one of the most impressive activities of
L-iiiiWi....,m"~-spending two weeks in the Sovir:i\JDiQA. So
I thought of starting my speech w ith "a year ago today we were sitting with 1200 people listening to incredibly boring speeches and thinking it would never
end ..."
Well that was going to be one way of starting but
that got pre-empted last Thursday when I just
happened to be going by David Harrigan's office
while he was on the phone speaking to Mike Mearns.
This brought me back to reality and made me rea lize that when I thought we had gone forward , I look
behind , and see that we really haven't gone that far
at all. Bethany Care, Cochrane, Local #173, had gone
back to the table after some 4 months of being on
strike. When they went on strike, part of the package

"I believe that this
organization is building
itselfto meet the clJallenges
of ton1orrow."
they rejected included hours of work being settled;
and included an offer from the Employer of the current 1991 rates with a number of other things which
I won' t go into. But what is most upsetting was that
the Employer, through a mediator last Thursday,
came to the table and suggested that instead of the
contract expiring on March 31, 1992 just as the
provincial agreement does, the Employer wanted a
two-year agreement from the date of signing. Instead
of the hospital rates in the current 1990/1991 agreement the Employer was proposing 1989 rates with a
2% increase and some nebulous discussion of a signing bonus. The Employer was reop ening hours and
proposing self-scheduling. Nurses would only be
considered part-time if they worked a minimum of
four shifts in two weeks. There would be no shift
differential, no weekend premium, no pension plan.
There would be no payment of charge pay possible
on day shift and one person on evenings, nights,

weekends and stats would get responsibility pay of
$1.05 an hour. The Employer suggested cost-s haring
of the premiums on a sliding scale so that if you were
full-time the Employer would pay 75% sliding down·
ward. Thus an Employee who worked four or five
s hifts in a two week period would have only 25% of
her premiums paid by the Employer. And on one of
the most contentious issues in this dispute, the question of recognition of experience, the Employer made
some movement. The Employer suggested that it
wou ld recognize seventeen hundred and twenty
{1720) hours of geriatric nursing/nursing home experience to equal one year-with five years of such
experience you could advance one step in the increment scale. I cannot say how disappointed I am-I
cannot imagine how disappointed the members of
Local # 173 must be. After four months of a very, very
valiant struggle, a very hard struggle, going from summer to winter, to have the Employer come to the
table and give that kind of an offer-there is no mercy,
there is no justice. So Local#173 will be meeting with
Mike to strategize what their next step is. We clearly
believe that this violates the Labour Relations Code
as bargaining in bad faith and those issues will be
pursued. But I think it is important for everybody
here to realize just how fragile our progress really is.
It makes me think of 1988 when our Employers came
to the table wanting to roll back wages 3%.

The fundamental questions that I had for the Minister
of Health in this province were; " What is the future
of health care? Who is doing the planning?".
Throughout the year the Executive Officers have
been very, very busy participating in a multitude of
committees and activities that impact on health care.
The Provincial Nursing Action Plan or The Provincial Nursing Action Committee depending on who
you are talking to-l refer to it as "The Plan". The
Management Information Systems, Acute Care Funding, Long Term Care Funding are just a few of the
projects that are going out there. Regionalization in
Edmonton, rationalization in Lethbridge. Who is
planning it? Who is coordinating it? Who is setting
the agenda? The most frightening comment to come
back from the Minister of Health was that nobody
was planning it. There is no strategy, there is no
plan-and as for agendas there's all sorts of them. We
know what some of those agendas can be like. The
Bethany Care nurses are suffering from one of them.
Many of the hospitals across this province in thOJast
year have had agendas foisted onto them. An artificial shortage or an artificial surplus of nursing staff

kind
has it been? It's b en a VC~Y.-~,f5~Wiiiiiiiiifi'iilleiiiiiin~
s
a very·il.ll·itiiPiMEriOI
activity and workload. I believe that you have a ll felt
that workload in your locals as well. It has been a very
challenging year and I believe that this organization
is building itself to meet the challenges of the years
has been created by these agendas. It's imperative
ahead. We have brought on some new staff. We spent
that if we do not want to tive by somebody else's
two days meeting with our staff in the spring of this
agenda
that we set our own and we make others live
year to look at our organization and what our
from ours and work from ours. This is our challenge
problems were, what our wants are and how we can
in the year ahead· to solidify, to clarify what our agenmeet our needs. We've met with the Board and we' re
da
is, and what we want to see changed and what we
continuing that process in the new year. We want this
want
to see happen. And we must do it in a coordiorganization to be stronger. We have more locals comnated and united way because we know that ''Uniting to us. I introduced them fi rst in the local listing
ed We Bargain, Divided We Will Beg''. We've looked
but that is not enough. We must be representative of
at
bringing to you this year one of the biggest
our memberships. We must have a vision of our
challenges ever put to this organization. We're askfuture and what we want that future to be. I think that
ing the membership of this union to endorse an inprobably one of the scariest concerns in Alberta tocredible vision of communication. A vision which
day is: " What is the future going to be?"
will ensure that we have the ability to immediately
When I first worked on a speech for the
communicate w ith local presidents across this
Annual Meeting I did it before the May Board Meetprovince, provide information; hear from you; proing because we were going to the Board with some
vide
you documents relating to grievances, PRC,
very, very large scale proposals for change and I
whatever the issue may be. It's a very ambitious entitled that document ''A Time of Change''. This is a
deavour. It's a very costly endeavour. What we are
most important time of change, not only for us, but
proposing to you from the Board is that you look carefor this province and for this nation. Just as a year ago
fully
at how we plan our finances and hopefully you
in the Soviet Union I don't believe a single person
will support our vision, our priority of communicacould have predicted the circumstances and events
tion as the key to strengthening this organization and
that happened there in the past year, I don' t believe we
making us a foe that cannot be ignored in the future.
have any more ability or security to predict what is
Coming up soon we will have the December 3rd
going to happen around us. In a sea of chaos we must
hearing before the Supreme Court of Canada relatcreate stability for ourselves and our membership.
ing to the 1988 fines imposed against the union , the
That is the goal of the Executive Board, that is the goal
criminal
contempt fines. We are seeking some
of the Executive Officers and with your help I believe
$400,000
back
from the Provincial Government. All
we can make that happen in the upcoming year.
ten provinces have enjoined against us. When you go
I had some questions in terms of the video. [A Nov.
to the Supreme Court {we have already been through
'90 to Nov. '91 video was shown to delegates prior to
the
layers of the courts in Alberta). every other
this speech.] What did Manitoba achieve? How long
province, because it has federal implications, is given
did the strike by the Brewery Workers go on and what
the opportunity to join in the challenge against uswas achieved? The answers are not always positive
and all ten provinces have. On December 13th we
and some of the answers that UNA has been getting
will be exchanging proposals with the hospital emhave not been positive. In early October the Execuployersand it's not going to bean easy day. Not only is
tive Officers met with Nancy Betkowski , the Minister
it, unfortunately, a Friday the 13th, but I think we
of Health. We had a lot of questions for Nancy-we
had two or three pages of questions for Nancy, as a
matter of fact. We were only to be given half an hour
Continued on page 2
of her time; we ended staying an hour and a half.

good ye~~t.

Inside: Negotiations '92

·E uropeans aiin for better \Vorking standards
Ed Finn/CALM
AS WE STRUGGLE with the serious social and economic problems that now confront our country, we
need models and prototypes to copy. How are other
countries meeting similar challenges, and what can
we learn from them?
The trouble is that in searching for examples we
rarely look beyond the United States. But the U.S. is no
longer an ideal role model (if it ever was). Economically,
it is being outstripped by Western Europe, as well as
Japan , and its 'social programs are inferior to ours.
In striving to imitate the Americans we are courting a decline rather than an improvement in our social and economic standards. Of course, with free
trade we've severely limited our choices already.
However, we're not yet so constrained that we can't
benefit from, perhaps even follow, the examples set
by other nations.

•'Jn Europe 'harmonizatior1'
means raising standards to maich
U1e best; here it rneans lowering
them to match the worst.''
Japan is not a practical model because of its radically different culture. But the European Economic
Community (EC) offers an alternative to the American system that we should at least consider. Some
aspects of the EC approach may not be applicable to
Canada, but certainly the basic philosophy should be
considered.

Unlike the U.S. and Canada- which seem bent on
reaching the lowest common denominator in wages
and social benefits- the Europeans want to lift their
less privileged citizens up to a decent level of
well-being.
" Harmonization" is a term that's heard as often in
Europe these days as it is here. But in Europe it means raising standards to match the best ; here it means lowering them to match the worst.
The EC has proposed a charter of fundamental social rights for its member nations. It calls for: improved living and working conditions, full and better
employment, the equal treatment of men and women, and the participation of workers and their unions
as full economic partners.
THE SOCIAL charter sets forth the rights of workers
in several key areas. These include:
• the right to adequate social security benefits,
• the right to union membership and free collective
bargaining.
• the right to fair pay and to annual paid leave,
• the right to safe and healthy workplaces,
• and the right to participate in decisions ,affecting
their work such as layoffs, technological change,
and corporate mergers.

These and other basic rights, according to the charter, are to be harmonized so they' ll eventually be enjoyed by all workers, regardless of where in Western
Europe they happen to live.
Skeptics doubt that such an objective is achievable,
given the wide diversity of social and economic conditions that now prevail in Europe. What matters at
this stage, however, is that the EC has set its sights on
raising standards rather than lowering them, as we
have done in North America .
Regardless of how far short of this goal the Europeans may fall by the time they form a single internal market at the end of 1992, they will still be far
ahead of us. And that w ill make it even harder for
Canada and the U.S. to compete with them.
The Europeans have decided to compete by investing in their workers' skills, security, morale and
productivity, and by assuring them the good jobs and
wages that are needed to stimulate consumer spending. We, on the other hand, are following the American lead in trying to compete on the basis of forcing
down labour costs and social benefits, and in the
process making our society less fair and prosperous.
(Ed Finn recently re! ~red as a communicator with the Canadoan Union of
Public Employees. He'~ a member of !he board of directors of !he Canadoa11
Ce11tre (or Policy Alternatives.)

Local173

ESSENTIALLY, the Europeans have set as their target the attainment of the highest possible standards
of social security and economic fairness. They may
not achieve such lofty goals, but what's important is
that they've set them.

President's Message - Continued from page 1
have to look very carefully at what we are proposing and the environment we are proposing it in. It
is vital that we have tight communications in the
months ahead between you and the Negotiating
Committees. And I mean that in terms of the Health
Units, the Hospitals and Extendicares going into bargaining. it is very, very imperative that your Negotiating Committees understand where you are, where
you want to be. Nobody wants to see another 1988.
In terms of what else is going to be happening in
our organization we have some very big plans for
Education. Trudy Richardson returning to the
organization as an Education Officer has given me
real hope that we can significantly change the way
we deliver education . The implementation of computers is going to be a significant advantage as well .
Challenges and changes is what lie ahead of us.
The agenda must be set by us. I have some other
comments to make to you, they'll be made during
an Executive Session this afternoon. I believe it is
imperative that we indicate to our employers, and
the government at every opportunity we have, that
we're not just going to sit still. Economic downturns
does not mean that we will take nothing. Pensions
have become one of the biggest issues in this
province since July of this year. Our Pension Committee has done a lot of work, we've done a lot of
work with other unions to try to bring our issues forward. In the end I believe it is going to be just like
the GST debate where Dick Johnson floats out balloons of inflated proposals so that we will gratefully
accept the fallback position which was really his first
position to begin with. We must not let this government and these employers dictate our working conditions and the q uality of patient care. We must be
strong and oppose them while protecting ourselves
and our patients. It 's not going to be easy-it's going
to be incredibly hard. I don't believe that I have ever
come to you and spoken with such feelings of concern about our future because we are fighting some
very, very big foes but I am optimistic that with a
will of this membership, an investment in terms of
computers, an investment in communications that
we can make it happen. I will just remind you in
closing of a little comment that we've all heard before and we should all keep in mind: "Nurses' work
is never done, our fight goes on for what we've won''.
Thank you very much.
2

l '.N.A. Ni:WSHlTLU:TIN

Nurses at the Bethany Care Centre in Cochrane returned to work on December 16, 1991
after ratifying a memorandum of agreement with the Lutheran Welfare Society. The nurses,
members of l..J.Mted Nurses of Alberta Local #173, began a legal strike on July 12, 1991
after 10 months of unsuccessful bargaining with the Employer. The Local was attempting
to achieve a contract similar to the provincial contract which covers 14,000 Alberta nurses
and includes nurses at two other Bethany Care Centres in Alberta.
The Lutheran Welfare Society and the Union returned to the table in November. The
Employer re-entered negotiations by proposing an even more Draconian collective agreement than the one which the nurses had rejected prior to the strike !for more details see
Heather Smith's speech to the AGM).
The 2-year agreement, which will expire on March 31, 1993, provides for hospital wages
rates for the nurses in the first year of the contract and a 3.5% increase effective January
1, 1992. However since previous nursing experience will not be recognized, these nurses
will be paid substantially less than nurses covered by the provincial agreement. Nurses
will receive 55 cents/hour for shift differential and a weekend premium of 35 cents/hour.
A major demand going into bargaining was the return of a pension plan for the nurses.
When the Bethany Care Centre, Cochrane, first opened in 1988 the nurses did have a pension plan. In April of 1989 the Employer took away this standard benefit. The Local has
won a pension plan in this agreement-the Employer will contribute 2% into a registered
retirement savings plan.
Heather Smith, President of the United Nurses of Alberta, called both the settlement
and the employer's attitude towards its nurses ' 'extremely disappointing'' . During negotiations members of the Local had stressed to the Employer that nursing home nurses were
not second class nurses. The Employer, however, entered into negotiations determined
to maintain its lower level of compensation for these nurses .
Smith praised the members for their strength and determination and described their strike
as "a courageous struggle by a small group of nurses trying to protect standards of care
for the elderly and infirm. ''

Annual General Meeting 1991
The 1991 Annual General Meeting of the United
Nurses of Alberta was held November 19-21 at the
West in Hotel in Calgary. Two hundred and eighty
1280) voting delegates attended the meeting along
with sixty-seven 167) observers.

1991 ELECTIONS
Sandie Rentz emerged as the winner of the battle
for the position of UNA Vice-President. Dale Fior,
who had chaired the Finance Committee for the
past year while the .former Secretary-Treasurer
was ill, won the election for Secretary-Treasurer
on the first ballot. Shelley Moug was elected as a
North District Rep; Gail Tymens, Bev Dick and
Gina Kelland were acclaimed as North Central
District Reps; Andy LeBlanc was acclaimed as a
Central District Rep; and Sheila Bailey was elected
as a South District Rep. Pam Liegerot and Donnie
Meehan were acclaimed as South Central District
Reps. The resignation of Dale Fior as a South Central District Rep because of her intention to run
for the Secretary-Treasurer position created the
need for an election for one South Central District
Rep. An election was held at the AGM with Keith
Malkin being the victor.
CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS
The following constitutional amendments were
debated and carried by the voting delegates:
UNA Boundaries
The Legislative Committee was directed to investigate the distribution of UNA Locals and their
representation with a view to redefining the
boundaries of districts and the delegate voting
process. The Leg Committee will report back to
the members at the 1992 Annual General Meeting.
Discipline
The internal discipline process of the Union was
reviewed by legal counsel this year and the constitution was c hanged to reflect the suggestions for
improve ment of the process.

Revenue
The delegates voted to increase the dues rebates
to the smaller locals lthose with fewer than 30
duespayers).

A motion was also passed to decrease the amount
of money that UNA pays into its Emergency Fund.

Calgary General
The Calgary General Hospital will now be considered as two separate chartered locals-Bow Valley Centre and The Peter Lougheed Centre.
BUDGET
The 1992 proposed budget was adopted. Delegates
also voted in favour of UNA proceeding with the
computerization of UNA Locals.
POLICY RESOLUTIONS
Collective Bargaining
UNA members voted to expand the Union's position statement on Collective Bargaining to read:
UNA believes that the right of workers to organize
and engage in free collective bargaining is fundamental in any free society. There should be no legal restrictions on the right of Unions and Employers to
participate in free collective bargaining.
An essential element of the bargaining process is the
right of workers to withdraw their services.
Consistent with this belie{, UNA will not participate in any system which limits the right of any worker to take strike action.
Services During Strike Action
Consistent with professional responsibilities and
past practice, UNA will provide emergency services during strike action as authorized by each Local. The delegates sent a clear message to
administration and the government by indicating
that in the event of a strike, UNA will withdraw
all nurses from the affected hospitals. No regular
staffing will occur during a strike nor will UNA
negotiate any level of regular staffing.

Free Trade
UNA is opposed to free trade negotiations between
Canada, the U.S. and Mexico.
Pensions
UNA was directed by the delegates to investigate
alternate pension plans and bring recommendations to the 1992 AGM.

Education
The mandate of the Education Committee was expanded to include the responsibility of educating
the public about UNA.
Procedures
Delegates voted in favour of several motions
which altered UNA' s internal procedures regarding Canadian nursing unions, District Rep days,
membership ineligibility list, local addend urns and
the Appeal Committee process.
GUESTS
The five guests at the AGM included: Kathleen
Connors, President of the National Federation of
Nurses' Unions; Roberta Metherall , President of
the Canadian Health Care Guild; Earl Dodd, President of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta; Gretta Zeback, a former UNA member; and
Madeline Parent, union activist , as the guest
speaker.
EDUCATION
Jon Shearer proved that education can be entertaining with his presentation on the effects of shiftwork. " It was an energizing and educational
session,'' said Heather Smith. " He has a firm grasp
of the implications of shiftwork on all workers. ''

Confli~t of Interest
A new process was set up to allow UNA members
to benefit from goods and services provided at a
lower cost by organizations to UNA members. The
emberahip ~s CoJJl.IDittee will have the
responsibility for approving these goods and services while ensuring that there is no conflict of
interest.

l '.N., \. NEWSHI ' LU~T IN

3

Negotiations '92 - Ingoing Proposals
This article contains the major ingoing proposals from the AHA, RAH and UNA for the current rourd of hospitallxzrgaining.
Members from Locals 1 (Calgary General}, 2 {Red Deer General}, 32 {Glenrosej, 60 {Slave Lake}, 115 {Foothills}, 121 (Calgary District Hospital Group}, 150 {St.
Michael's-Lethbridgej and 183 {Alberta Hospitll Edmonton} sh:>uld contact their Local Executives for more detzils about articles containing their own local conditions.
Members from Local33 {Royal Alexandro,l should consult with their Local Executive for otM changes propJSed by UNA to bring their contract into line with the provincial
hospitals agreement.
Article

AHA

RAH

UNA

1. Term o f Agreement

2 year

2 year

2 year
Employer responsible for ensuring
retroactivity paid.

2. Defin it ion

Change Psych. Nursing Training Act to
Health Disciplines Act.

Current

Add definitions of: ability to perform work;
position; cycle of the s hift schedule; and
community nurse.
Position elimination d efinition to include
movement of a ward/unit one kilometre or
more.
Change Psych. Nursing Training Act to
Health Disciplines Act.

3. Recognition

Current

Current

No contracting out of bargaining
unit work .
No person in an excluded position shall
perform bargaining unit work.
Employee to have right to Union
representation at any meeting with Employer.

4. M anagem ent R ights

Current

Current

Employer must be fair and reasonable.

5. Dues, Deductions
and Un io n Bu sin ess

Current

Current

Employer to pay full professional registration
fees.
Bulletin board provided by Employer on each
ward/unit.
Union to be notified of orientation schedule.
No denial of LOA for UNA Local Executive
or Executive Board members.
Employer dues list to contain information re:
start date, classification. ca tegory, address
and LOA's.

6. No Discrim in at ion

Current

Current

Delete "physical" prior to disability.

7. Hours of Wor k

Restructure enti re article and make foUowing
changes:
Request by Employee to discontinue
permanent evenings, permanent nights or
permanent evenings or nights shall not be
unreasonably wit hheld !Currently cannot be
withheld).
Decrease weekend off to 55 3/4 hours.
If Employee agrees to change scheduled days
or s hifts off, she will not be paid overtime.

Discuss " more fl exible shift scheduling".
Shift schedules to be posted 12 weeks in
advance or a "shorter period as is mutually
agreed between the Employer and the
affected Employees".
Delete scheduling options.
Increase number of weekends worked.
Delete assurance that n o Employee will be
scheduled to work more than 2 consecutive
weekends.
Increase maximum number of consecutive
shifts to more than 7.
Decrease compensation for changed days of
rest or shifts to l · l/2X.

Meal breaks to be paid j8.25 paid hoursldi!y)
Increase rest periods to 20 minutes.
Employee to be paid ill overtime rate for all
missed meal or rest periods.
D/ E/N rotation by Employee request onl y.
All rotations to include an extended weekend
of 79'14 hours once every four weeks.
Employee to be paid for 8.25 hours if comes
in to work and is required to report for a lat er
shift. Employee is also to be paid for
transportation .
28 days' written rlQtice in person and in
writing for change of scheduled days or
scheduled shifts off.
Employee to receive 2X basic rate of pay for
all scheduled s hifts changed wit hout 28 days'
written no tice. Such changes to occur no
more than 2 times in 3 months.
Mutual agreement to alter scheduling
provisions to be between Employer and
Union .

8. Overti me

Current

Current

All overtime shall be voluntary.
Overtime to be paid o n all ho urs in excess of
scheduled shift.
Add 20 minute rest period for each 3 hours of
overtime worked.

•

Negotiations '92 Update

Co mmencement o( Bargaining
Exchange o( Proposals (Meets with
employer(sJlo exchange proposals/

Sets borgainwg dates (Dates o(
borgaming to be agreed upon by
UNA and Employers/

Health Unit Negotiations Update

AHA Bargaining Dates
January 15-17 & 29-30- February 19-20 & 26-28

By: Murray Billett, LRO

AHA~s Negotiating Committee

The Health Unit Demand Setting Meeting was held at the Mayfield Inn on October 29
& 30 in Edmonton. The Meeting was attended by 25 delegates. The group represented all
the UNA members employed by Health Units throughout the province.
Delegates attending debated and worked through the host of demands that were submitted
by the locals, some of which were controversial. Although there was a great deal to accomplish,
all the items on the agenda were completed by the end of the second day.
These demands were then prepared in booklet form and sent out to each of the UNA Health
Unit Locals. Each of the Locals held membership meetings to ratify the contents of the package.
The package was overwhelmingly supported by the health unit nurses in the Province.
Dates for exchange of proposal are expected to be set for early January, 1992.

•wendy Haasen (AHA, Staff)
Jody Bauer (AHA, Staff)
Ellen Mc Rea (Calgary District Hospital Group, Trustee)
Bob Gibb (Misericordia Hospital, Human Resources)
Wendy Griffen (Alberta Hospital Edmonton, Human Resources)
John Heath (Foothills Hospital, CEO)
Neall Stevens (Banff Hospital, CEO)
Germaine Dechant (Charles Camsell Hospital, DON)
Easter Cossell (Barrhead Hospital, DON)
·

4

tT.~.A. NEWSHllLU.:TI N

• Chief Negotiator

Article

AHA

RAH

UNA

9. On-Call Duty

Increase number of weekends employee can
be assigned on-call duty.
Add "where possible" to the current
prohibition on assigning on-call duty to
Employees not scheduled to work.
Add " If an Employee is called back to duty
immediately prior to her regularly scheduled
shift, the minimum o f three (3) hours at the
overtime rate shall not apply ."

If an Employee is called back to duty,
contiguous to her regular hours of work, the
minimum of 3 hours a t the overtime rate
shall not apply.

Provincial minimum wage to be paid for on·
call duty.

Current

Current

Increase rate for transportation to 32~/km.

LO. Transportation

Employer to pay employee 2X the provincial
minimum wage if the Employee works more
than 2 weekends in a 5 week period.
Add that weekends shall include the Monday
or Friday of an extended weekend.
" Hours of work shall include travel time to
and from the institution "

Employer to provide free on-site parking to
all Employees.
Employer shall pay the cost of business
insurance for car .
Employer to reimburse Employee who uses
her own car when assigned community duties
(including parking costs).
11. Probationary
Period

Double the length of the probationary period
(to 1007-112 hours).

Probationary period to begin after the
completion of orientation.

Decrease length of probationary period to 462
hours from 503-3/4.
Employee to have right to grieve termination
during probationary period.
Increase length of orientation to 12 shifts
from 7.
The first 10 shifts shall be under direct
guidance or supervision.
The first 7 shifts shall be day duty and the
first 3 shifts on evenings and nights shall be
under direct guidance or supervision.
A probationary Employee shall not be
designated in charge.

12 . Seniority

Current (although at this time UNA is unclear
what the AHA's intentions regarding Article
12.05 are as AHA did not include any
reference to Article 12.05 in its ingoing
proposals. The article refers to nurses
returning to the bargaining unit from a
management position).

Seniority to be based on hours worked
(exclusive of overtime) rather than date of hire.

Seniority to be applicable during the
probationary period.

Other changes to article to reflect seniority
hours not seniority date.

Clarify how seniority affects vacation time,
position elimination, promotions and
transfers, and shift schedules.
Seniority considered broken when Employee
transfers to out-of-scope position. (Delete
current 12.06).
An Employee retains her seniority date in the
event that her position is transferred to the
control o f another Employer.

13. Evaluat ions

Current

Current

W ritten evaluations to be based solely on
observations of immediate supervisor.
Increase required notice of evaluation
meeting to 48 hours (from 24).
Increase length of written response time to 10
days (from 7).
There will be no limitation to right to see file.
No advance notification of the Employer is
requ ir ed.

14. Promotions,
Transfers and
Vacancies

Wording changes to clarify placement of
casual and regular Employees after
completion of a temporary position.

Increase the length of the trial period to
503-3/4 (from 325-l/2) hours.

An Employee who has been in an out-of·
scope position will be guaranteed reinstatement
o r placement at the completion of the term.

~

The Employer must post all vacancies and a
copy of the vacancy notice must be posted on
the unit where the vacancy exists.
Employer must give preference to members
of other UNA bargaining units when hiring
from the outside.
Notice of vacancy must include the site
(location).
Clarify that an application for a vacancy does
not constitute a request for a particular shift
pattern.
A full time or part time employee must be
reinstated in her former position after
completion of a limited term position if the
Employer decides she is no longer needed in
the temporary position.
Positions shall be awarded on the basis of
skill, knowledge and experience. Where these
factors are relatively equal, seniority is the
deciding factor.
A promoted Employee shall remain at her
same increment in her new classification (i.e.
Step 7 Reg. Nurse moves to Step 7. Assistant
Head Nurse).
Decrease the trial period for a promoted or
transferred Employee to 310 (from 325· 112) hours.
Employee's request to return to her former
position during her trial period shall not be
denied.
Orientation period shall be 10 shifts under
direct guidance. The first 7 shifts shall be day
shifts. The first 3 shifts on evenings or nights
shall be under direct guidance.

15. Layoff and Recall

Reorganize a rticle.
Employer acknowledges the value of local
discussion to address " local circumstances
which may warrant modifications of Article 15".
Employees who have been displaced or
whose position has been eliminated must
make their decision based on:
( 1) taking a vacan cy prior to displacing
anoth er employee
(2) if displacing another employee, taking a
least senior position.
The Employer does not have to create a
vacancy by laying off the most junior
Employee.

Current

There shall be no layoffs during the term of
this agreement.
Employer can eliminate positions but cannot
reduce number of regular hours worked.
Increase notice of position elimination to 28
days.
Any Employee whose position has been
eliminated (delete limit of 24 months
seniority) shall have the right to bump or take
a vacancy.

If the Employee does not select a position or
vacancy, the Employer must place the
Employee in a position.

l l.N.A. NEW~IWLU;TJN

i)

(I

Article

AHA

RAH

UNA

15. Layoff and Recall
Continued

Employer wants ability to hire new casuals
and run job competitions for all regular
positions while Employees are on layoff.
Include a definition of "ability to perform
work" which will require Employees to be
job ready without orientation. This will
significantly restrict the ability of displaced
Employees to select vacancies or other
positions.

Curren t

If a position is eliminated due to a transfer or
relocation of serv ices (to another Employer or
to a different site of the same Employer) the
Employee also has the right to transfer with
her position to the new Employer or new site.
An Employee w ho transfers with her position
to a new Employer will maintain her seniority
and not have to serve a probationary period.
Increase Employee's decision time to 72
hours.
Procedural clarification of the bumping
provisions to ensure a fair process with
minimal disruption to the Employees.
If an institution is closed , each Employee
shall receive 1 month salary for each year of
service based on full -time salary.

16. Temporary
Assignment Pay

Current

Current

Employer to designate in -charge person if
supervisor absent from unit (Remove 2 hour
time period delay before nurse receives
charge pay).
An Employee performing charge duties will
receive charge pay whether or not the
supervisor is present.
Increase charge pay to $3.00/hour (from S 1.251
If no out-of-scope person is on-site the in -charge
Employee receives an additional $2.00/hour.
Any nurse is entitled to charge pay if s he is
designated in charge.
Increase payment for out-of-scope assignment
to $3.00/hour (from S 1.50).
An Employee who acts as a preceptor or tutor
shall be paid at the instructor rate for the
duration of the preceptorship.

16.1 Ambulance Duty

Current

Current

Increase payment to $75.00/round trip (from
S50.00).

17. Vacations with Pay

An Employee d oes not accrue vacation while:
(a) on layoff; (b) on approved LOA ; (c)
receiving WCB or disability insurance .

Employees no longe r to be permitted to carry
forward vacation from one year of
employment to the next.

Employee to be able to take vacation as ea rned.
Vacation entitlement to be equal for sta ff
nurses, AHN's, HN's, and instructors.
Vacation entitlement: (i) in tst year of
employment: 165 hours, (ii) for each
successive year an Employee receives an
additio nal 8.25 hours.
Employer to indicate approval or disapproval
of vacation request in writing.
Minimum percentage of vacation pay to be
received upon te rminatio n increased to 8%.
Another 0.4% to be added for each addi tional
8.25 hours of vacation entitlement.

18. Named Holidays

Effective January I , 1993 the AHA wants to
limit the floater holiday to Employees hired
before Feb. 1st.
An Employee can mutually agree to not be off
on any of the actual Named Holidays.
An Employee is not entitled to Named
Holidays w ith pay whch fall during a period
of LOA, WCB, STD! or LTDI.

An Employee can mutually agree to not have
time off on either Christmas or New Year's Day.
An Employee is not en titled to Named
Holidays with pay w hich fall d u ring periods
of LOA, WCB, STDI or LTDI.

Add Easter Sunday.
Increase payment to 2X for work on a Namt."d
Ho liday (from t - t/2XI
The lieu day can only be scheduled on an
agreed-to date.
C hoice of d ay added to annual vacation or
payment for day at basic rate of pa y to be at
the Employee's sole discretion .
Increase days off consecutive with Christ mas
Day or New Year's Day to 5 d ays (from 2).
Unless otherwise requested by the Employee,
an Employee s hall receive either Christmas or
New Year's Day off.
An Employee must be granted a Named Holiday
w hich falls adjacent to her weekend off duty.

19. Sick Leave

The following changes refer to Employees
w ho can no longer perform own position's
work but can do own classi fi cation's work:
· 28 days aft er an Employee gives notice of
her date of RTW, the Employer will
attempt to identify an existing position
w hich is within the Employee's
classificat ion and capabilities AND the
position must either be vacan t or occupied
by a less senior Employee. Time
limitations may be extended by mutual
agreement between the Union and the
Employer. NB: The placement will be "at
the ea rliest possible opportunity" · this
may be 21 days o r later if a suitable
position cannot be found .
- If an Employee is not placed the process
of finding her a position begins anew
"should ci rcumstances change."
- The Employee displaced by the
Employee returning to wo rk will be
"eligible to be placed into alternate
positions in accordance with Article 15."
Employment will be terminated after 24
months on LTDI.
Sick leave credits will not accumu late d uring
LOA's longer than 30 days o r layoff.

Change refers to Employees w ho can no
longer perform own position's work but can
do own classificatio n's work:
- An Employee will only be reinstated
" when a vacancy is available."

The Employer is not permitted to reference.
discipline or dis miss an Employee for illness
or injury related absences .
Benefits from Art 19&21 must be provided
for any health-related absence during
pregnancy , childbirth or post-delivery.
Increase sick leave credits to 2 days/month
Increase maximu m sick leave credits to 180 day~
An Employee w ho brings sick leave credits
from another facility can access them
immediately.
Employee to receive sick leave for any
satisfactorily-proven illness during vacation.
An Employee who doesn't quali fy for LTDI
and exhausts her sick leave credits is on sick
leave (without pay/benefits) fo r the duration
of her illness.
Add " medically" before a ll re ferences to
capabilities.
Decrease length of notice of RTW to 2 weeks.
If Employee is incapable of performing duties
of her position but is capable of performing
work of own classification, the Employer
must place Employee in a position.
An Employee who is dispaced b y a RTW
employee is entitled to bump as per Article
15.03.
Upon RTW the nurse will be credited with
increments, vacation and other benefits as
though she had been at work.
Sick leave credits may be used for any healthrelated appointments.

l i.N.A. NEWSBULLETIN

Article

AHA

RAH

UNA

20. Workers'
Compensation

"Full net salary" to no longer include
payment for premiums.
Employer permitted to deduct more than 1/ 10
of a sick day for each day of WCB leave.
Contain conditions are to be met before the
Employee receives full net take home pay.

Full net salary to no longer include payment
for premiums.
Employee will accrue vacation credits for first
30 days on WCB.

Insert "medically" before any reference to
capabilities.
Employee on WCB conti nues to accrue
increments, vacation, sick-leave credits and
other entitlements.
Any Employee displaced by a RTW employee
shall be entitled to displacement rights of
Article 15.

21 . Prepaid Health
Benefits

A UIC SUB plan (for maternity leave) may be
implemented at the Employer's option.
Reward article to specify who does receive
benefits (currently who does not) .

Current

Benefit plan to pay 100% of prescription drug
costs.
Increase group life and accidental
death/disability, LTDI, STD! and dental care.
In addition these benefits shall be indexed to
the salaries appendix.
Add vision care and chiropractic services.
Employer to pay STDI and LTDI directly to
Employee.
Employer to pay lOO% of premium costs.
All regular and temporary employees to be
covered.
All retired Employees to receive group
life, AD&D, dental, vision and chiropractic
coverage.

22. Leave of Absence

Combine maternity, adoption and paternity
leaves into "parenting leave".
Court appearance to be changed to pay for
hours missed with the Employee reporting to
work at the end of the court session.
During health-related portion of maternity
leave, Employees entitled to sick leave, STD!,
LTDI or UI SUB plan benefits.

" Regular earnings" for bereavement leave
and court appearance to exclude premiums.
Maternity leave to "be discussed in light of
Parcels award and possible introduction of
SUB plan."

Increase length of bereavement, maternity,
adoption and education leaves.
After 10 years of continuous service an
Employee is entitled to education leave with
60% of salary and full benefits paid by the
Employer.
Special leave of 5 days/year with pay for
pressing necessity.
All pension contributions shall continue
uninterrupted by LOA.
Witness duty pay not to be restricted to
employment only .

23. Discipline, Dismissal
and Resignation

Current

Current

Expression of dissatisfaction with Employee's
conduct or performance cannot become part
of the Employee record unless Employee and
Union have received written warning.
Discipline removed from file after one year.
Employer must provide 24 hours' notice of a
disciplinary hearing.
Failure to meet any provision of Art. 23
renders suspension, discipline or dismissal
null.
Just cause for discipline or dismissal or
suspension of a probationary Employee.

24. No Strike or Lockout

Current

Current

Current

25. Salaries

Delete reference to new positions which were
created under former collective agreements.

Delete reference to new positions which were
created under former collective agreements.

Payroll cheque stub to include a monthly
display of banked overtime, sick credits and
vacation days accrued , incre ment date and
lieu days (Named Holidays).
Salaries cannot be paid less than bi-weekly.
Where possible, s hift workers will receive the
cheque (cheque stub) on the day prior to pay
day.

26. Educational
Allowances

Current

Current

Increase clinical course, dual registration,
N UA course and one year diploma to so~.
Increase mid·wife course to S 1.00
Increase baccalaureate to S2.00.
Increase Masters to $2.50.
Add Doctorate Degree (S3.00) and one year
university ( 50~)
Allowances for clinical courses to be
cumulative up to two courses.

27. Recognition of
Previous Experience

Current

Current

Wording changes to include 9th & lOth
increments.
Delete "satisfactory to the Employer"
regarding nursing experience.
After completing a refresher course an
Employee advances I increment for each 2
years of previous experience.

28. Shift Differential
& Weekend Premium

Current

Current

Increase shift differential to $2.00/hour.
Increase weekend premiums to S2.00/hour.

29. Pension Pla n

Current

Current

Employer to ensure LTDltime is
pensionable.
Supplementary pension plan provided to
allow retirement with full pension at age 55
(fully funded by Employer and fully indexed
to Albe rta Cost-of-living).

30. Part-time, Temporary
& Casual Employees

AHA made a number of proposals to make
changes consistent with changes in the main
body of the agreement.
Allow for scheduling of casual employees 21
days in advance.
A part-time Employee who works additional
shifts may, under certain conditions, take all
or a portion of the number of hours of paid
vacation time earned on those additional
s hifts in pay instead of time off with pay .

RAH made a number of proposals to make
changes consistent with the changes in the
main body of the agreement.
Decrease pay for part-timers working on a
scheduled day of rest to straight time.
Decrease amount paid in lieu of vacation to
casual Employees by basing pay on basic rate
of pay rather than regular earnings.

In addition to charges to this article to make
it consistent with the main body of the
agreement the following changes are
proposed:
Temporary Employees no longer prohibited
from applying for other positions.
Each part-time Employee shall be scheduled
for shifts of a consistent length.
If any Employee works more hours per shift
than agreed-to, s he will receive overtime for
those extra hours.
No changes to letter of hire except by
operation of the Collective Agreement.

...

l'.N.A. Nt:WSUl'LLt:TIN

7

Article

AH A

RAH

30. Part-lim e, Temporary

UNA
Guarantee of 2 consecutive days of rest per
week.
Employer must pay part-time Employees
picking up an additional shift and casual
employees for 8.25 hours if the shift is
cancelled with less than 8 hours' notice.
Nursing hours worked concurrently for
another Employer shall be considered in
determining movement on increment scale.
All hours of work and sick leave with pay
shall be recognized for determining vacation
leave with pay.
Increase pay in lieu of slats to 5.2% of gross
earnings (rather than regular earningsl.
Part-time Employees shall accrue sick leave
credits for all paid hours.
Casual Employees to receive 15% of gross pay
in lieu of benefi ts.

& Casua l Employees

Continued

Current

Current

Current

32. Grievance P rocedure

Extend Di rector's (Step 21 deadline to
respond.
Administratio n may delegate response duties
at anytime.
Group grievance involving I NUS commences
at step I .

Wording changes to reflect titles o f
administration.

Delete Step 2 (filing with Director).
Administrator has 10 days to reply.
If Employer fails to comply with any time
limits, Employer concedes grievance.

33. Arbitratio n

Current

Current

Parties to use sole arbitrator selected from an
agreed upon roster (wording cha nges to
reflect thisl.

3 4 . Occupa tio na l
Hea lth & Safet y

Board of Trustees allowed to refer Union's
OH&S presentation to a committee rather
than full Board.

Current

Employer must accept O H&S forms and
cannot penalize, harass or discipline an
Employee w ho submits one.
Specify 4 reps from Union and Employer.
Specify fu nction of Committee.
Time limits set for Employer response.
Establish an Independent Assessment
Committee to review complaint and make
binding recommendations.
Employer responsible to ensure a fair and
harassment·free work environment.
Employer to pay for all medication an
Employee requires related to her work.
No Employee shall participate in a bomb
search.
Employer must provide sufficient and
qualified security personnel on all shifts.
Emergency security devices (UNA approvedl
to be p rovided on request.

35. ln·Service Progra m s

Current

Current

Change title to Professional Development
with wording changes to reflect the above.
Add WHMIS, Universal Precautions and
Aggression Management to required in-services.
All Employees to be granted 5 paid days/year
for educational improvement.
If Employer requests Employee to upgrade
her educational level, the Employer shall pay
tuition , wages and benefits.

36. Professiona l

Board of Trustees to be able to refer Union's
Prof. Resp. presentation to a committee
ra ther than full Board.

Current

Add preamble which slates both parties
desire the best possible nursing care, services
and health protectio n for patients and public.
Clarify all PRC members to receive minutes
of PRC meeting.
Specify func tion of PR committee.
If response from Board of Trustees is
unacceptable, an Independent Assessment
Committee s hall be established to review
concerns and make binding recommendations
(wording for p rocedure also).
Employer must accept all PR forms and not
penalize, harass o r discipline any Employee
who submits a form.
Every 3 months the PRC will receive written
review of target hours , patient acuity and
actual hours worked for each unit.

AHA made a number of proposals to make
changes consistent with changes in the main
body of the agreement.
Part·time Employee not normally covered by
Art 37 who works an additional shift which is
an extended workday s hall be paid straight
time only, even if she is not replacing an
extended workday Employee.

RAH made a number of proposals to make
changes consistent with changes in the main
body of the agreement.
Agreements to be made between Employer
and Employee rather than Employer and
Union .
Extended workday Employees to be entitled
to a total of 93 hours for Named Holidays.
Delete wording w hich specifies that an
Employee shall be entitled to 11 Named
Holidays and 1 Floater Holiday. Delete
reference to 7-3/4 hours pay.

3 1. Copies o f the

Collective Agreem ent

Respons ibility

37. Exte nded Work Day

38.X NEW

10.25 Ho u r Shifts

8

t l.N. A . N t-~W S Bl f L LET I N

In addition to changes in this article to make
it consistent with the mam body of agreement

the following changes are proposed:
- hours of work to include 2-30 minute meal
periods with paid time being 12.25 hours
- increase time off duty on a s hift changeover
- in troduce scheduling option which would
ensure days of rest on alternate weekends
and no more than 3 consecutive extend ed
s hifts
- day in lieu of Named Holiday to be paid for
12.25 hours
Part-time Employees covered by Art 37 shall
work 12.25 hours per s hift.
A part-time Employee who agrees to replace
an extended-workday Employee shall be paid
at straight time.
Similar to Article 37 and p rovides for:
- 19 shifts in 5 weeks
- total weekly hours to be 38.95 averaged
over 1 complete cycle of the shift schedule
- 3 - 20 minute rest breaks and 1-30 minute
meal breaks/shift
- guarantee of 2 weekends off in each 4 week
period
- maximum of 4 consecutive shifts

Article

AHA

RAH

UNA

38. Uniforms

Current

Current

If the Employer requires uniforms, the

39. Position Description

Current

Current

Change "job" to " position"

40. Committee
Participation

Current

Current

Employee to be paid at applicable rate of pay
(currently basic!

No pyramiding
Except as otherwise allowed in the contract
there is to be no pyramiding of benefit s.

Technological/Organizational Change
Employer to notify Union 120 days prior
to changes.

41. New

Employer is responsible for supplying and
maintai ning uniforms.
Employer to pay for damage to
clothing/personal possessions during
work time.

42. New

Unemployment Insurance Rebates
Employees' portion of rebates to be returned
to Union not Employer so that Employees can
d etermine how monies are used.

43. New

Community Nurses
Based on current Local Conditio ns for Local
1179 (with changes as pe r main contract)

44. New

Employee and Family Assistance
Program
Parties to meet and develop a provincial
EFAP to be in effect by April I, 1993. Current
EFAPs to continue to April 1993.

Letter of Understanding
(Ward/Unit)

Delete

Delete

Renew with date changes.

Letter of Understanding
(8th increment)

Delete

Delete

Delete

Further Changes to Contract:
Parties to examine ways to meet needs of
both parties w hile minimizing impact of
outside fundin g constraints.

Work Force Stabilization
Parties to examine total number of
replacement hours worked (casual , overtime,
additional shifts).
Employers will convert these to regular
positions and post the resultant vacancies.

Rates to be negotiated .

Increase all increments by $2.00/year.
Add 9th and lOth increments.
Northern allowance (for Employees above
55th parallel) of $50.00 bi-weekly.

New · Letter of
Understanding

Salaries Appendix

At the appropriate time AHA will table a
proposal which it believes to be fair and
equitable.

Record Number ofEm loyer Fro osals
by Heather Smith, UNA President

The summary of the Employer proposals is extensive
because the Employers, in particular the AHA, has proposed
a record number of modifications to the Collective
Agreement. My short summary attempts to identify the
proposals which have a significant negative impact on UNA
members.
The Alberta Healthcare Association (AHA) and the Royal
Alexandra Hospital (RAH) have proposed wording
regressions under the guise of "flexibility". These changes
might also be characterized as "more Employer control".
In the AHA package, there are repeated suggestions in
hours of work (Articles 7, 30 and 37) to diminish
requirements for posting the schedules and to change the
schedules with less than two weeks notice if the Employee
agrees. The Employer also proposes unlimited and
unrestricted alternatives to the Options in Article 7.
The Employer wants to double the length of the
probationary period (Article 11).
The changes proposed in the layoff provision (Article 15)
reflect a desire by the Employers to take more control of the
process. The Employers want to restrict the choices an
Employee would have in the event of a layoff or position
elimination and to add skill criteria which further limit the
placement of Employees and the return of Employees who
ha'v e been laid off.
The same trend is evident in the Workers' Compensation
(Article 20) and with regard to return to work from Long Term
Disability (Article 19). The Employer proposes restrictions
and diminished responsibility for the placement of injured
Employees returning to the work place.
The proposals under Occupational Health and Safety
(Article 34) and Professional Responsibility (Article 36) will
diminish the ability of the Union to access the Board of
Trustees with concerns. It will be possible for the Board of

Trustees to delegate concerns to a subcommittee of the Board,
rather than a meeting with the full Board of Trustees.
Although the RAH did not submit the same volume of
proposals, the contents may be viewed as more regressive
than the AHA. The RAH proposes the same changes as the
AHA in Hours of Work, but adds additional regressions
which will diminish guaranteed weekends to two in five
weeks and suggests a minimum of seven consecutive shifts,
instead of the current six consecutive shifts. The RAH also
suggests reducing the penalty for changes to the shift
schedule from 2X to 1-1/2X.
The RAH did not suggest doubling the length of the
probationary period, but did suggest the probationary period
commences after the completion of the orientation.
Perhaps one of the most offensive proposals by the RAH
relates to seniority (Article 12). The RAH suggests seniority
is based on "hours worked" instead of the date of hire.
The RAH did not propose the same regressions to reinstatement from injury of illness. On returning from Long
Term Disability (Article 19) an Employee must wait until a
"vacancy is available".
A trend in the RAH proposals is to change the assurance
of' 'regular earnings'', which include premiums an Employee
may be entitled to receive, to ''basic rate of pay'' (Articles
20, 22 and 30.06).
Neither the RAH nor the AHA proposed a change to wage
rates. Both the RAH and the AHA proposed to delete the
Letter of Understanding regarding Ward or Unit.
The various negotiating committees depend on your
feedback to ensure that appropriate decisions are made. We
will seek collective agreements that are consistent with the
needs of our membership. Many members have already
assisted the hospital negotiating committee by completing
Input Sheets. I thank you for your participation and look
forward to your continued involvement.
lf.N.A. NEW:SUl JLl,E'riN

H

Dear Ms. Carry:
Thank you for your letter outlining some of your
concerns regarding the challenges facing today's
health system. I apologize for my delay in
respond ing.
As you point out in your letter, recent reductions
in federal government payments to the provinces for
health care have indeed put additional pressures on
ou r Alberta system. At a recent meeting of provincial and federal health ministers that I attended in
Winnipeg. the Honourable Benoit Bouchard, federal
Minister of Health , indicated a clear commitment
on behalf of the federal government to protect and
preserve Canada's universal health system. In the
face of federal deficit reduction efforts, however, it
w ill be important that all Canadian, including
provincial governments, ensure that commitment is
carried out with the appropriate financial support
to provinces.
With reference to your comments regarding the
Rainbow Report, I can assure you that I share your
concern w ith any changes to our current health system that would increase the level of ''bureaucracy''
in that system . I have said before that I would not
want to put in place any structure that does little
more than add another " level" into the system.
The Rainbow Report recommendations, while
offering some alternatives to how we deliver health
services are only that · alternatives and there will
be many areas where the intent of the recommendations can be reached but with a different delivery
mechanism. The government will be releasing its
response to the recommendations of the Rainbow

Dear Friends,
On behalf of the members of the Public Service
Alliance of Canada, I wish to thank you for your
generous assistance during our strike.
Strikes are always difficult but we are additionally burdened with an employer whose agenda is to
remove the rights of workers to collectively bargain
and impose economic controls on those same workers that reflect their anti-worker sentiment.
Although our picket lines are down, the struggle
to protect and entrench workers' rights will continue.
This government will be facing an election in the
near future. We will take our struggle to that election campaign and as well we hope you will make
workers' rights an issue for the politicians to consider.
Once again thank you for your support.
In Solidarity,
Joanna Miazga,

Report later this fall and I'm certain you w ill find
our approach, as a government, will not be in the
direction of increased "management" but rather
better management.
In respect to your comments on the changes to the
Aids to Daily Living jAADL) Program I would stress
that there have not been reductions to this program
this year, in fact an additional $13 million was
provided to its budget for 1991/92. This was done
to help address the ever-increasing cost and utilization of the Program.
At the same time there were a number of lower
cost items removed from the AADL benefits list and
other items did have their authorized frequency or
quantity of use reduced . These changes were made
to help free resources to allow more expensive
medically-required products such as power wheelchairs and home ventilation therapy to be added as
eligible benefits and to enhance benefits for diabetics
and the visually impaired.
The items removed from the benefits list were considered to be lower cost or lower frequency-of-use
items and the intent was to focus the limited
resources on all of those supplies and products
which have the potential for much greater financial
and health impacts and thus much greater impact
on an individual's ability to remain independent in
their own home.
Any individual whose specific medical, financial
or social situation requires supplies in excess of the
normal program maximums can apply for additional
quantities through an AADL Benefits Appeal
Process. Those Albertans experiencing financial
difficulties can apply for exemption from cost-

sharing provisions through a Cost-Share Appeal
Process. All low income Albertans are exempt from
cost-sharing.
These changes to AADL were made in an effort
to direct the program to those individuals having the
greatest need and thus, in the long term, increase its
potential to keep people out of institutions. I firmly
believe that the changes will have that desired result.
In the larger context, there are no easy solutions
to many of the challenges facing our health system
and I know I don't have all of the answers. We will
certainly continue to focus on the most efficient and
effective use of our acute care facilities through the
Acute Care Funding Plan and its associated rolestatement component. We will continue to try to
move the emphasis of the health system toward
health prevention, promotion and community care.
We will continue to attempt to address some of the
issues facing the nursing profession through the Premier's Initiatives on Nursing program. And we will
continue to work in partnership with all sectors of
the health system to ensure that health dollars are
expended on those programs and services and in
those locations where they will do the most good.
Thank you again for bringing your concerns to my
attention and I hope I have been able to clarify, at
least a little, some of the issues you raised.

Yours sincerely,
Nancy J. Betkowski · Minister

We Are Merely Pawns
Upon The
Chessboard Of Life!
By: Yes.sy Byl, LRO
FAC1S: The hospital decided that they no longer wanted acute care units at their downtown site (Edmonton General). They closed one of the two acute care units· giving the nurses on that unit position
elimination notices. With respect to the remaining acute care unit, they decided to ''transfer'' the en·
tire unit to the Grey Nuns site · without regard to the nurses' wishes.

Northern Alberta, Regional Strike Coord. , PSAC

ARGUMENT: It was the Union's position that the nurses on the' 'transferred unit'' should have received
position elimination notices and that the newly created positions on the Grey Nuns site were ''vacan·
cies". The Union argued that a nurse's " position" included the physical location of her unit as well
as such factors as nursing focus, status, etc. and that the Employer did not have the right to unilaterally
transfer a nurse from one position to another.

Don't

read this!

DECISION: The decision was pretty straightforward. The Board simply found that the Collective Agreement did not deal with the concept of more than one work location for an individual employer. As the
Board stated:

lAM 721 From the back o{ the ~LM

''... it appears that the parties have not yet addressed this issue at the bargaining table. As a consequence} we are being asked to ascertain what the parties meant by the words they used and
to give effect to their expressed intention in circumstances which were unforseseen at the time
the relevant provisions were agreed upon."

BELIEVE IT or not, this is the text of
a notice that appeared on a Canadian
Aircraft Products bulletin board:

BULLETIN BOARD NOI'ICES
ARE NOT TO BE READ
DURING WORKING HOURS!

10 U.N.A. NI<:WSllULJ.E'fiN

•

In essence, the Board found that since the parties had never addressed the issue in bargaining, there
was no limitation on management's right to transfer the unit to another site.
With the provincial trend of amalgamating hospitals, this has become a very important issue for upcoming bargaining.

DALE FIOR - Secretary Treasurer
Holy Cross Hospital (Calgary} • Part-time
staff nurse (Orthopedics}

SANDIE RENTZ - Vice President
Red Deer General Hospital • Part-time
staff nurse (Recovery Room}

HEATHER SMITH- President
Edmonton General Hospital - Part-lime
staff nurse (medicine}

UNA Executive Board

DARLENE WALLACE- North
District • QE ll Hospital (Grande
Prairie} • Full-time staff nurse - ICU

SHELLEY MOUG - North District •
QE 1/ Hospital (Gronde Prairie} •
Part-time staff nurse

ISA.BELLE BURGESS - North Central
District • Royal Alexandra Hospital
{Edmonton} • Part-time staff nurse

CARMEUTA SOL/MAN- North
Central District • Edmonton General
Hospital • Part-time staff nurse renal unit

GAlL TYMENS- North Central
District • Hospital District 1124 • Fulltime staff nurse - long term care.

GINA KELLAND- North Central
District • Charles Camsell Hospital
tEdmonton} • Full-time staff nurse

VALERIE HOWWJCH - North Central District • Vegreville Health Unit
• Full-time nurse - home care

BEV DICK - North Central
District • Misericordia Hospital IEdmonton} • Casual

ANDY LEBLANC - Central District
• Red Deer General • Part-time staff
nurse

MARILYN COADY- Central
District • Wetaskiwin Hospital • Fulltime staff nurse

HOLLY HEFFERNAN -South Central
District • Rockyview Hospital
(Calgary} • Part-time staff nurse
(working on BN}

KATHY ]AMES - South Centrol
District • Foothills Hospital (Ca/gary} •
Full-time assistant head nurse

PAM LIEXJEROf- South Centra./
District • Grace Hospital Women's
Health Centre • Full-time staff nurselabour & delivery

DONNlE MEEHAN - South Centra./
District • Holy Cross Hospital ICalgary} • Full-time staff nurse

KEITH MALKlN- South Central
District • Alberta Children's Hospital
• Full-lime staff nurse

KAREN CRAIK- South Centrol
District • Foothills Hospital
(Calgary} • Full-time staff nurse

DIANE POYNTER -South
District • St. Michael's Hospital ILethbridge} • Full-time staff nurse

SHEILA BAILEY- South District •
Lethbridge Regional Hospital • Fulltime staff nurse

l".N.A. NEWSIKI.U:TI X

11

''Working Thgether''
David Harrigan' s Report to Delegates at the UNA 1991 AGM

Good morning! I am pleased to be here. As Director of Labour Relations I find one of the most frustrating parts of my job is the amount of time I have
to spend stuck in the office or s tuck in a meeting
debating esoteric issues a nd fine points of law
rather than being out where the action is with you
people. And so I really enjoy coming to Annual
Meetings . It's a chance for rejuvenation, a chance
to touch base with the members and see if, in fact ,
what we are attempting to accomplish is what the
members are wanting us to accomplish . It is an
opportunity to look back to see how we' ve done
over the past year and see what sort of priorities
we have for the future. The role of the Labour Relations section of the Union, at least in my mind,
can be s ummed up as assisting the members in ensuring that the work of the Union gets done. Some
of the activities that we are involved in include
contract interpretation, negotiations of collective
agreements, providing assistance i~ grieva~ces
and in arbitrations, providing education and Issuing a numbe r of publications aimed at a variety
of a udiences. Your staff are also involved in assisting the locals with issues of professional responsibility, occupational health and safety, short and
long term disability, and workers' compensation.
We've had a number of hearings at the Labour
Board, the AARN and the RPNAA. I think there
has been a tendency in the past to view years
where the hospitals and health units a re not in
negotiations as slow years where the Union gets
a chance to take a breather. But it certainly seems
to me that this past year has been the busiest in
the three years that I've been here.
We've certified nine new locals since we met last
year. The certification process ranged from the
relatively simple case where we would visit a rural
hospital where essentially the nurses would h~ ve
already organized the mselves and we would JUSt
sign the m up to the cases like Local # 183 where
the organizing actually began prior to the las t
Annual Meeting, continued on through months
with campaigning, charges and counter-charges
and weeks of hearings at the Public Service Employee Relations Board and finally culminated in
a certification vote.
Even though our major groups (hospitals and
health units) have not been in bargaining we have
been very involved in negotiations in the past year.
We have successfull y negotiated te n collective
agreements since this group me t last year. Again,
some of these have been relatively simple where
we've been able to sit down and at one session sign
off an agreeme nt. Othe rs, however , CPL and Chinook Health Unit for example, have taken anumbe r of months, hearings, votes and mediation.
We've been involved in negotiations down in Lethbridge for what we thought was going to be a re la tively simple transfer of services between two
hospitals which has now resulted in lite ra lly
months of negotiations to try to reach a letter of
understanding. And of course we've had Local
# 173 which has been on strike for more than four
months now. And above and beyond that we've
all been involved in preparing for the hospital and
health unit negotiations .
We've put on a number of workshops in the last
year and have taught over 500 members on issues
s uch as Local Administration, Contract Interpre tation, Political Action and the handling of
grievances.
On the issue of grievances, I took a look the other
day and discovered that since ou r last Annual
Meeting we've opened 629 grievance files. As I

12

recall, four years ago that we were averaging about
half that number. Now obviously the majority of
those 629 grievances have since been resolved, ~>Ut
at any given time we have over 200 active
grievances. We've gone to arbitration on a large
number of grievances in this last year and we have
a large number of scheduled arbitrations in the upcoming months . We've received decisions of 14
of the a rbitra tions. For those of you that are keeping score, we've been successful on 6, and unsuccessful on 8. Some of the one we were unsuccessful
wi th, I wou ld consider very major issues. For example we've discovered that in the case of an employer having two or more hospitals they now
believe they have the right to unilaterally transfer units from one hospital to another. We've been
s u ccessful, though , on some very major issues as
well. including the issue at the Devon Hospital
where the employer attempted to eliminate every
position and then recall everyone back to work.
We've also received the decision of the Board of
Inquiry regarding the treatment of employees on
Maternity Leave has been handed down. We've
had a number of meetings with AHA to determine
how that decision is going to be implemented Discussion of this matter will continue in the new year
and we hope to have a resolution quickly.
Over the past year, certainly one of the most frequent concerns that has bee n expressed to me as
the DLR is the availability of the staff in orde r to
assist the members. This has come both from the
members as well as the staff themselves. And as
Director, I, a long with your Executive Board, have
recognized that this is a problem and ha ve taken
some steps tha t we hope w ill help that. As Heather
indicated we he ld a two-day meeting with all of
our staff and the Executive Officers. One of the
goals at that meeting was to try and determine
what changes we could make internally in orde r
to provide a better delivery of services. As a result
we've increased the number of Labour Re lations
Officers by one, we've elimina ted the E/PO position and replaced it with two positions, one foc~s­
ing solely on education and the other concentratmg
sole ly on communication. In addition we have
created a temporary Labour Relations Officer position in the Calgary Office. It may well be that in
the upcoming year we will have to take another
look at our s taffing because the year that we face
is going to be just as busy or even busier t~a': the
year we've just been through. As Heath~r mdi~at­
ed there a re some major challenges w1th whtch
we're going to have to deal.
.
.
We 're going to have to look at how th.ts Um~m
will deal with the high demands on the ttme of 1ts
staff and on the time of its local executives. We
must deal with the possibility of new labour legislation that's been talked about which would provide some form of a limited right to strike or a right
to strike as long as the government could assure
it's not effective. How are we going to deal with
hospitals who ve ry intentionally ch?Ose simply to
ignore the provisions of the collective agree ment
knowing that a llowing the grievance process to run
its course through to arbitration takes such a long
time that justice is never really achieved. As an example, earlier this year we had a grievance at Local #2 in Red Deer. The issue was the fact that the
employer had a number of undergraduate nurses
and one day they wrote them all letters saying
" Congratulations! We've decided to reclassify you.
Your work hasn' t changed. You' re no longer called
undergraduate nurses. You are now nursing attendants. Oh, and by the way, we are paying you two
dollars an hour less than we used to!" UNA grieved
that. Finally, w e had the arbitration hearing where
w e listen ed to all the evidence and arguments that
both sides presented. The hearing e nded and all
that was left to do was for the Board to meet and
d etermine which side was going to be successful.
I was telling my wife about the hearings that night,
I got about midway though explaining the h~ar­
ing when my wife announced that she had JUSt
been to the doctor and she was two months' pregnant. But the point, if there is one, the point to
all of this is that my son is now a month old and
we're still waiting for the arbitration decision. Employers know that this happens and take advantage
of it. We a re going to have to fig ure out a w_ay to
deal with employers like that and we are gomg to
have to determine how we are going to deal with
employers like the Lutheran Welfare Society who
employ our nurses at Bethany. In the name of

Christian love and charity, the LWS proposes to
pay their nurses less than w hat they are paying the
scabs that are currently working there. We need
to devise ways to deal with the fact that we're going into bargaining for our major groups in a climate that is far, far different from what we saw
the last round. We need to devise ways to deal with
the government and their attempts to step back
from the culpability in the pension fiasco. And we
need to devise ways of dealing with the growing
trend towards regionalization and rationalization
of health care services. All of these issues are going to be in front of this Union. Some of these decisions will be made by you in the next three days.
Some of these are going to take a lot longer to work
th rough . There a re lots of different possible answers a nd different possible strategies for dealing
with them. I wou ld just again like to reinforce that
the only way to be successful is the same way
we've been s uccessful in the past. To listen to the
membership, to take a stand and to make sure that
everyone is standing togethe r.
Thank you.

President
Heather Smith
Home: 437-2477
Work: 425·1025

.fbm Liegerot
Home: 230-8101
Work: 284-1141 (3151

SOUTH
Diane Rlynter

Home: 327-3501
. 382-6482

NORI'H CENTRAL
BtN Dick
Home: 430-7093
Work: 484·8811 (671)

Carmelita Soliman
Home: 487-3812
Work: 482-8397

425·1025
t -800-252·9394
Fax: 426-2093
David Harrigan
Director of

Labour Relations

Valerie Holowac~h~----:=

G111a Kelland
Home: 477·5847
Work: 453-5441

LsabeJ/eBurgess

Home: 462-7961
Work: 477-4817 (Stn. 17)

GaillJmem

Home: 458-0503
Work: 478-9221 (215)

CENTRAL
Andn1w LeBJanc

Melanie c:Mpman
CO.
Yessy Byl

L.R.O.
Murmy Billett

L.R.O.
Nora Spencer

L.R.O.
1l'udy Riclwml.!on

E.O.

Home: 346-8309
Work: 343-4448

lAulene Rathgeber
Director of Finance and

OffJCe: 342-2033
Muilyn Cocdy

Administrative Services

Home: 352-8552
Work: 361-7131

SOUTH CENTRAL
Holly Hti(fenran
Home: 255-0479
Work: 259-7511 (I.V.I
Kalhyjames
Home: 295-2442
Work: 670·1517
Karen Craik
Home: 236-5326

Work: 670-1315
Donnie MeeJun
Home: 295-1609
Work: 541-2153
Keith .t.il1kUt

Calgary Office
SOS Pacific Plaw
700 - 6th Avenue. S.W.

Calgary, Alberta T2P OT8

m-zm

1-800-661-1802
Fax: 263·2908
Michael Mearm

L..R-0.
Marilyn~

L.R.O.
Laurie Coates
L.R_Q.
Rick l.llmplhire
L.R.O fiQJpJ.

Home: 248-8805
"MM: 229-7898

HN.A. Nt:WSBl ' LU:TI~

It?

-Constitution
&Local

By-Laws
With Amendments as of
November, 1991

AMENDMENTS TO
THE CONSTITUTION
As of November, 1991
THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES HAVE BEEN AMENDED AS
OF THE NOVEMBER 1991 ANNUAL MEETING:
Article #: 5.11, 6.03, 6.05, 8. 11,
11.04 (b), 11.04 (c). 11.07, 13.08,
Appendix A Bylaw IV

ARriCLE 1.:
Name
1.01

1.02

3.04

This organization shall be known as the United
Nurses of Alberta (hereinafter referred to as
" U.N.A.").
ln the interpretation of this Constitution,

3.05

the feminine gender used herein shall mean
and include the masculine, and the singular
shall include the plural and vice versa as
applicable.

ARriCLE 2:

No person shall be refused membership because of nationality, race, colour, origin, sex
or sexual preferance, age, physical disability
or religious or political belief.
Membership in a Local Union, chartered by
the U .N .A., shall also constitute membership
tn the U.N.A.; however, no person shall act
as or be deemed to be an agent of the U.N.A.
or any chartered or subordinate body of the
U.N.A. because of her membership un less
specifically authorized in writing signed by
an appropriate official to so act.

The advancement of the social, economic and
general welfare of nurses and other allied personnel.
(a) The regulation of relations between
nurses and other allied personnel and between nurses and their employers.
(b) The negotiation of written contracts with
employees aimed at implementing
progressively better conditions of employment.

2.03

The promotion of effective communication
with employers.

2.04

The promotion of the knowledge of nurses
and other allied personnel in all things related to their social and economic welfare
through education and research.

2.05

The promotion of the highest standards of
health care.

2.06

The promotion of unity within the labour
movement, the nursing profession and other
allied fields through cooperation with and
support of other organizations.

4.02

4.03

ARriCLE 3:

3.02

3.03

2

All registered or graduate nurses and other
allied personnel who are eligible to engage in
collective bargaining are eligible for membership in the U .N .A. provided that no allied personnel shall be admitted to membership
without the approval of a two-thirds (2/3) vote
of the Executive Board subject to endorsement at the next annual meeting.
For greater certainty, without limiting the
generality of the foregoing, persons who in the
course of their employment permanently exercise managerial functions or who are permanently employed in a confidential capacity
in matters relating to labour relations shall be
excluded from membership.
Any member who is eligible to be a member
of the United Nurses of Alberta and pays such
dues or assessments as may from time to time
be required, shall be accepted as a member

ll.N.A. {'O~S'fl'fUTION

The affairs of the U.N .A. shall be managed
by an Executive Board which shall be composed of the following :
1)

President;

2)

Vice-President;

3)

Secretary-Treasurer;

4)

District Representatives:

The number of District Representatives shall
be determined on the basis of one (1) District
Representative for the first one thousand
(1,000) dues payers or part thereof in the District as of sixty (60) days prior to the Annual
General Meeting, and an additional District
Representative for every additional one thousand (1,000) dues payers or part thereof in the
District as of sixty (60) days prior to the
Annual General Meeting. There shall be a
minimum of two (2) District Representatives
for each District.
All Officers shall be elected at an annual meeting except that a vacancy occurring between
annual meetings shall be filled in accordance
with 6.05, Appendix " B" or 10.10 (b) asappropriate.

4.04

Term of Office shall mean two (2) years or until their successors are elected. The Term of
Office shall begin upon adjournment of the
Annual General Meeting of U.N.A.

4.05

The duties of the Board shall be as follows:

Membership
3.01

4.06

Only members in good standing of the U .N .A.
are eligible for membership on the Executive
Board.

4.07

In the event that a member of the Executive
Board absents herself from two (2) consecutive meetings, i.e. Executive Board, Delegate,
Special, Committee, Disciplinary Hearings,
the reasons for such absences shall be delivered in writing to the President. If the reasons so delivered are found to be
unsatisfactory to the Executive Board by a 2/3
ballot vote, the office of the member shall be
declared vacant. Such vacancies shall be filled
in accordance with Article 6.05 or Appendix
B I, 3 as applicable. Such appointed or elected
member shall hold office until the next
Annual General Meeting at which time an
election shall be held in accordance with
Article 10.04.

4.08

Any member of the Executive Board may resign her office by giving notice in writing to
the President.

4.09

Any Executive Board member who ceases to
hold office for any reason, shaH, within one
month turn over to the Executive Board, all
documents, assets and property of the U.N.A.
in her possession.

4.10

The District Representative shall designate an
alternate member to attend Executive Board
meetings in her absence.

Executive Board
4.01

2.02

(d) THE DUTIES OF THE DISTRICT
REPRESENTATIVES
The District Representatives shall carry
out generally the objectives of the U. N .A.
and function as m embers of the Executive Board. (The terms of reference for
District Representatives are as outlined
in Appendix "B".)

ARriCLE 4:

Objectives
2.01

(c) SECRETARY -TREASURER
The Secretary-Treasurer shall cause to be
kept such regular books and records of
the U .N .A.'s finances as shall be set up
under the instructions of the Executive
Board, shall cause to be maintained full
records of minutes of all meetings of the
Executive Board and of all meetings of the
U.N .A. and shall cause to be maintained
all records, documents and correspondence of the U.N.A.

in good standing of the United Nurses of Alberta and the Chartered Local of the United
Nurses of Alberta . Any member who shall be
in arrears in the payment of dues or assessments for a period of six (6) months shall be
automatically suspended from membership
in the United Nurses of Alberta and the Chartered Local except when on an approved leave
of absence, layoff or grieved dismissal. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any person who
has resigned her membership in the U.N.A.
due to her non-support of a strike or in the face
of charges, or who has been expelled from
membership shall only be eligible for membership in the U.N .A. or its Chartered Locals
upon successful application to the Executive
Board for reinstatement pursuant to Article
5.12.

(a) PRESIDENT
The President shall preside at all meetings of the Executive Board and all meetings of the U.N.A. and shall be charged
with the responsibility of carrying out the
policies of the U .N .A. The President shall
be an ex-officio m ember on all Committees of the Executive Board.
(b) VICE-PRESIDENT
The Vice-President shall preside at all
meetings where the President is absent
and shall be charged with the particular
responsibility of establishing and maintaining the flow of communication between the U.N.A. and its members, and
between the U.N.A. and other organizations.

ARriCLE 5:
Powers of the Executive Board
5.01

(a) The Executive Board shall be responsible
for constitutional interpretation.
(b) The Executive Board shall be responsible
for and accountable to the membe rship
for the administration of affairs and
activities of the U.N.A. when the U.N.A.
is not meeting.

5.02

(a) The Executive Board shall be responsible
for the formulation and development
of the general collective bargaining objectives of the U.N.A. and for the presentation of the said objectives to the
membership at meetings for discussion
and approval.

5.09

The Executive Board may in the exercise of
its powers do all such things and acts which
in the exercise of its sole discretion
better further the objectiv:es of the U .N.A.

5.10

Discipline of Members: Any member may be
charged by another member of the following
offences:

(b) The Executive Board or any person or
committee to which the Executive Board
delegates such authority, shall be empowered to negotiate and enter into regional, Local, provincial or area-wide
Collecti~e Bargaining Agreements on behalf of any Local or Locals without the
necessity of the written authorization of
such Local or Locals and the Executive
Board or its delegate shall corrdinate activities towaFds this end in consultation
with the Local Unions involved.
5.03

5.04

5.05

5.06

(b) Charges must be filed with the President within one hundred and twenty
(120) days of the date that the complainant first became aware of or
reasonably should have become
aware of the alleged violation of the
U .N .A. Constitution.
(c) The Executive Officer (the President
or a designate) shall review the
charges to see if they comply with
the above requirements. If the
charges do not comply, the Executive
Officer may reject them and provide
written notice to the complainant.

(a) Violating any provision of this Constitution or the Bylaws of any of its Chartered
Locals;
(b) Obtaining membership through fraudulent means or misrepresentation;
(c) Instituting, urging or advocating that a
member of any of the Chartered Locals
of this union should institute action in a
court of law against the U.N .A. or against
the Executive Board or any of its officers
or against any of the Chartered Locals or
any of its members in respect of any matter concerning the affairs of the U.N.A.
or any of its Chartered Locals or chartered bodies without first exhausting all
remedies through the forms of appeal
provided in this Constitution ;

To the extent required for the proper functioning of the U.N.A., the Executive Board, or any
person to which the Executive Board
delegates such authority, shall employ, retain ,
direct, and compensate personnel, consultants, legal, accounting, and other professional
personnel. and engage and pay for the use of
premises and equipment.

(d) Publishing or circulating either verbally
or otherwise among the memb~rship
false reports or misrepresentations concerning any member of the U.N.A. in
respect to any matter connected with the
affairs of the U.N.A. or its Chartered
Locals;

No monies of the U.N.A. shall be expended
without the authorization of the Executive
Board or such person or persons as the Executive Board or a meeting of the U.N.A. may
from time to time authorize for this purpose.
The manner in which monies may be withdrawn or cheques issued by the U.N.A. shall
be determined from time to time by the Executive Board. All acts bona fide done by any
meeting of the Executive Board or by any person acting as a member of the Executive
Board, notwithstanding if it be afterwards discovered that there was some defect in the appointment of any such person acting as
aforesaid or that they or any of them were disqualified, shall be valid as if every person had
been duly appointed and was qualified to be
a member of the Executive Board.

A complainant may refile a charge in
proper form provided that in no circumstance shall a charge be refiled
after 130 days after the complainant
first became aware of or reasonably
should have become aware of the alleged violation.
Executive Officer Review
1. The Executive Officer must then advise
the accused of the complaint by forwarding a copy of the complaint in person or
by double registered mail. The accused
will at that time be afforded the opportunity to respond in writing to the complaint, within 30 days of notification of
charges.
2.

The Executive Officer must then review
the charges and the accused's reply to determine if the complaint is frivolous or
trivial and to determine if it is in the best
interest of the Union to proceed with a
disciplinary hearing. The Executive
Officer at this time may also act as a facilitator or mediator to attempt to resolve
this matter before hearing by a Trial Committee.

3.

If the Executive Officer decides not to
proceed, the complainant has a right to
appeal this decision to the Executive
Board. The Executive Board shall examine the charge and the accused's reply
to determine if it is in the best interest of
the Union to proceed. The Executive
Officer shall not be entitled to discuss the
merits or vote on the appeal of her
decision.

4.

If the Executive Board determines it is not
in the best interest of the Union to proceed, the charge will be dismissed. If the
Executive Board decides it is in the best
interest of the Union to proceed, the matter will go to a Disciplinary Hearing.

(e) Working in the interest of any organization competing with the U.N.A. in a manner which is detrimental to the U .N .A. or
any of its Chartered Locals;
(f)

Fraudulently receiving or misappropriating any property of the U.N.A. or any of
its Chartered Locals;

(g) Using withoulproper authority the name
of the U.N.A. or of the Chartered Local
for soliciting funds or advertising;

The Executive Board may set up committees
of the U.N.A. and may appoint or elect a
chairman and members to the committees.
The committees shall be subject to any restrictions or regulations imposed upon them
by the Executive Board.

(h) Without receiving proper authority to do
so, furnishing a complete or partial list of
the membership of the U .N .A. or of any
Chartered Local to any person or persons
other than those whose official position
entitles them to have such a list;

The Executive Board in addition to all other
powers vested in it is hereby authorized and
empowered subject to the approval and
authorization of the U .N.A. as defined in
Article 5.07:

(i)

Wrongfully interfering with any officer
or accredited representative of the
U.N.A. or any of its Chartered Locals in
the discharge of l:lis or her duties;
·~ ·-

(a) to acquire, hold, and dispose of, real and
personal property or any part thereof;

(j)

(b) to invest monies on behalf of the U .N.A.;
and

(k) Doing any act contrary to the Constitution or to the Bylaws of any Chartered
Local, or failing to do any act required of
her by the said Constitution or Bylaws,
where such conduct has the effect of injuring the U.N.A. , the Executive Board
of the U.N.A. or any of its Chartered Locals, or impeding the implementation of
any policy constitutionally formed by
either the U.N.A. or any of its Chartered
Locals;

(c) to borrow money for the purpose of the
U.N.A. and to give security for any
money so borrowed on any of the real,
personal or mixed property of the U .N .A.
by way of mortgage, pledge, charge or
otherwise.
5.07

5.08

Authorization for the exercise of the powers
listed in Article 5.06(a) and 5.06(b) shall be by
two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Executive Board
subject to approval at the next Annual General
Meeting. Authorization for the exercise of
powers listed in Article 5.06(c) shall be gained
by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the delegates at
an Annual or Special meeting prior to exercise of such powers.
The business of the U .N .A. shall be managed
by the Executive Board who shall exercise all
such powers of the U.N.A. and do on behalf
of the U .N .A. all such acts as may be exercised
by the U .N .A. and as are not by law or by this
Constitution required to be done by the
U .N .A. in an Annual or Special meeting of the
U.N.A.

Circulating reports designed or calculated to injure or weaken the U.N.A. or any
of its Chartered Locals;

(l)

5.11

During the course of a strike by the
U .N.A. or any of its Chartered Locals failing to give all necessary support to the
said strike.

Charges
1. (a) Charges for an offence enumerated
under Article 5.10 of the Constitution
may be laid by a member, or a m emher on behalf of a Local, in writing ·
to the President. Charges are to include specific references to sections
and articles allegedly violated and
must include a plain, factual statement of the circumstances alleged.

Disciplinary Hearing
1. A disciplinary hearing will be conducted by a Trial Committee whose cost will
be borne by U .N .A. The complainant and
the accused must each select a member
in good standing as their nominee on the
Trial Committee from a list of trial chairs.
The list is to be composed of five members, being one chair nominated from
each of the five districts. Current Executive Board members are prohibited from
being trial chairs and nominees.
(a) Nominations and elections shall be
in accordance with Article 10 of the
Constitution of U.N.A.
2.

If the two nominees cannot determine
which of the five trial chairs to appoint,
each nominee can remove one name
from the list of trial chairs and a random
draw of the three remaining trial chairs
is to be made.

3.

The disciplinary hearing shall be convened and conducted expeditiously. It
shall be fair and impartial and both sides
may be represented by counsel, with the
costs of both sides to be paid by U.N.A.
The Trial Committee shall also be entitled to have counsel.
li.N.A. CONSTITliTION 3

4.

5.

notification of such LOA shall be made to the
Executive Officers of U .N .A. This LOA shall
not exceed 112 the length of the term of the
position affected. This LOA will not be funded
by UNA. The interim replacement will
receive the budgeted funding for that position.
Thirty (30) days prior written notice shall be
made to the Executive Officers of U .N.A. of
the expected date of return to position. Interim replacements shall be made in accordance with Appendix " B" Bylaws II 1. and
Appendix " A" Bylaws VI. In the event that
the President , Vice-President or Secretary/Treasurer should take an LOA, the Executive Board shall elect by and from
themselves a replacement for the term of the
LOA or until the end of the term of office.

Procedures to be followed at the Disciplinary Hearing are in the Trial Committee's
sole discretion . The rules of evidence
need not be strictly adhered to. Hearsay
is admissable. The onus of proving guilt
is on the complainant. If the accused does
not show for the disciplinary hearing, the
hearing may continue in her absence, but
the complainant must still prove guilt.
The accused cannot be compelled to
testify.
On a finding of guilt, the Trial Committee may expel, suspend or reprimand the
accused, and impose conditions prior to
reinstatement. The decision of the Trial
Committee is final and binding. There is
no appeal. For the purpose of this article
the arbitration act shall not apply .

6.06

Proviso
For th e purpose of establishing the Tria l
Committee between the 1991 and 1992
Annual Genera l Meetings, each District
shall elect at their fi rst District Meeting
after the 1991 Annual General Meeting
one member to serve on this Committee.
5. 12

The Executive Officers, with unanimous
agreem ent, m ay poll the Executive Board in
emergency circumstances. Polling to be
done in accordance with Executive Board
Policy.

ARriCLE 8:
Voting at Meetings of the U.N.A.
8.01

At any Annual or Special Meeting of the
U .N .A. each Chartered Local is en tilled to be
represented by one (1) voting delegate for fifty
(50) members or part thereof.

8.02

The local president shall ensure that each voting delegate chosen to represent her local is
a member in good standing of U.N.A. The
number of voting delegates to w hich each
local is entitled shall be based on the number
of members in the said local, thirty (30) days
prior to the Annual G eneral Meeting.

8.03

The Chairman of the meeting shall appoint
scrutineers .
The scrutineers shall arrange fo r the holding
of any vote; shall distribute, collect and count
ballots if used ; a nd shall report the results in
w riting to the m eeting.

(a) Any person w ho has been expelled from
membership or who has resigned following the receipt of charges is not eligible
to apply for membership at any Local of
the U .N .A. Where a person wishing to become eligible fo r mem bership in the
U .N .A. is required by the terms of Article 3.0 3 to apply to the Executive Board
for reinstatem ent, application shall not be
made un til one (1 ) year from the date of
expulsion or date of resignation . Prior to
the Board considering such an application , the applicant shall have met the
criteria fo r reinstatement as determined
by Executive Board policy.

Two-thirds (2/3) of the registered voting
de legates, includ ing a representat ive from
each district, shall constitu te a quorum for the
transaction of business.
U nless otherwise provided in this Constitution , any resolution presented at a meeting of
the U.N. A. or of any of its committees shall
be deemed to have been carried if a majority
of the voting delegates present vote in favo ur
of it.
Voting shall be by show of hands unless the
Chairman otherw ise d irects or unless otherw ise provided hereinafter.

(b) A person who has been s uspended from
membership shall have her m embership
card held at Provincial Office for the duraion of the suspension . Such member sha ll
forfeit all rights and benefits under the
Constitution but shall remain bound by
the terms of the Constitution.

Every member of the Executive Board shall
have a vote as though she were an accredited
voting delegate.
Unless otherwise specified, any decisio n
adopted at a m eeting shall take effect forthwi th at the conclusion of the meeting.

ARriCLE 6:

6.02

6.03

6.04

6.05

4

The Executive Board shall m eet at the call of
the President or at the request of no fewer
than three (3 ) m embers of the Executive
Board in writing to th e President. In any
event, the Executive Board shall meet at least
once in every four (4) months .
The time and place of meetings of the
Executive Board shall be determined by the
President, provided that any meeting requested by no fewer than three (3) m embers of the
Executive Board, pursuant to the provisions
of Article 6.01, shall be held within thirty (30 )
days of the receipt by the President of any
such request. Every Board m ember shall be
given at least fourteen (14) days' notice of such
m eetings.
The majority of the members or delegated alternate m embers of the Executive Board shall
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business provided that this quorum consists of at
least one (1) District Representative or
delegate alternate from each District.
Unless otherwise provided in this Constitution, any questions arising at a meeting of the
Executive Board shall be decided by a majority
vote of the members present. Each member
of the Executive Board shall be entitled to one
(1) vote on each question which is voted upon
at a meeting.
An LOA may be taken by Executive Board
Members and Local Executive. A written

U.N.A. CONSTITUTION

For the purpose of this Article the three (3)
units of U .N.A. Local # 12 1 shall be regarded
as separate Chartered Locals, and Local # 12 1
shall not be rega rded as a Chartered Local.

8.11

For the purpose of this Article, the two (2)
units of U .N .A. Local # 1 shall be regarded as
separate Chartered Locals and Local # 1 shall
not be regarded as a Chartered Local.

ARriCLE 7:

Meetings of Executive Board
6.01

8.10

Meetings of the U.N.A.
7.01

7.02

7.03

7.04

The U.N .A. shall hold an Annual General
Meeting in the months of September, October
o r November of every calendar year at such
place as may be determined by the Executive
Board.
A Special Meeting of the U.N.A. may be called
at any time and place at the request in writing of at least one-third (1/3) of the members
of the Executive Board or of at least one-third
( 1/3) of the Chartered Locals which shall
represent one-third (1/3 ) of the member ship
evidenced by notice in writing signed by the
President of each and shall be held within
forty-five (45) days ofthe receipt by the President of the U.N.A. of any such request . Any
such request shall specify the s ubj ects to be
considered at such a Special Meeting.
Every Chartered Local shall be given at least
thirty (30) days' notice of the Annual Genera l Meeting and as much notice as possible of
Sp ecia l Meetings. The Preside nt and
Secreta ry-Treasurer of each Charter ed Local
shall make every reasona ble effort to inform
the m embers of the Chartered Locals of the
said meetings.
The form of notice of meetings shall sp ecify
the subject to be considered at the meeting,
and, in the case of Special Meetings, only such
subjects as are specified in the notice calling
the m eeting may be considered and acted
upon at that m eeting.

ARriCLE 9:
Strike Votes and
Ratification Votes
9.01

Strike votes and ratification votes shall be conducted by secret ballot.

9.02

Only U .N .A. members shall have the right to
vote in strike and ratification votes.

9.03

An informa tion meeting shall be held at least
twenty-four (24) hours prior to commencem ent of strike and ratification votes.

9.04

Strike votes and ratification votes shall be conducted on all shifts within a twenty-fo ur (24)
hour period.

. .t\ RriCLE 10:

ARTICLE 11:

Elections

Revenue

10.01 All officers shall be elected at the Annual
General Meeting by a majority of the voting
delegates pre:;ent and voting.
10.02 All elections shall be by secret ballot, unless
otherwise provided in the Constitution.
10.03 The Legislative Committee or any known per·
sons acting with its authority shall prepare
nomination forms for the Annual General
Meeting and shall send them to the President
and Secretary of each Local at least sixty (60)
days prior to the Annual General Meeting.
10.04 The offices of President, Secretary/Treasurer
and one-half o r the majority of District
Representatives, in each District, shall be
e lected in the yea rs ending with even num·
bers. The offices of Vice-President and one·
half or the minority of District Representa·
lives in each District, shall be elected in the
years ending with uneven numbers.
10.05 Each District Representative must be a m ember of a Chartered Local in the Distri ct she
represents. Only members from the District
may nominate her and only voting delegates
from said Districts are entitled to vote in her
e lection .
10.06 Upon receipt of nomination forms, the Presi·
dent of each Local shall make every reasona·
ble effort to inform the Local that the
Legislative Committee will receive nomina·
lions pursuant to this Article.
10.07 Each nomination shall be on a proper form
bearing the name of the nominee and signalures of two (2) members in good standing of
the U.N.A.
10.08 Nominations shall be accepted until forty-five
(45) days prior to the Annual General Meet·
ing or from the floor at the Annual General
Meeting only in the absence of an official
nomination.
10.09 The list of candidates, signed by the Chairman
and two (2) members of the Legislative Corn·
mittee, shall be sent no later than thirty (30)
days before the Annual General Meeting to
the President of the U.N.A. and to the President of each Local and delegate. Every
reasonable effort shall be made to inform the
members of the Local.
10. 10 (i)

A motion to rescind the election of an Ex·
ecutive Officer of the U.N.A. may only
occur at a Special Meeting of the U .N .A.,
refe rred to in Article 7 or at an Annual
General Meeting of U .N .A. provided that
thirty (30) days' notice of such motion has
been given.

(ii) A motion to rescind the election of a Dis·
trict Representative of the U.N.A. may
only occur at a special delegate meeting
of that district of U.N.A. provided that
thirty (30) days notice of such motion has
been given. At the Special Delegate Meet·
ing each Chartered Local of that District
is entitled to be represented by one (1)
voting delegate for fifty (50) m embers or
part thereof.
(iii) Any mo tion to rescind the election of a
member of the Executive Board of the
U.N.A. must be passed by a two-thirds
(2/3) vote of the voting delegates present
and voting.
(iv) Election for such resultant vacancy for
the unexpired term shall occur at this
same meeting. Nominations shall be
received from the floor.

11.08 For this purpose of this Article, the two (2)
units of U.N .A. Local #1 shall not be regard·
ed as a Charte red Local.

ARriCLE 12:

11.01 The revenue of the U.N.A. shall be derived
as follows:
(a) Each Chartered Local shall remit to the
U.N.A. each month s uch sum as may be
determined from time to time by the
U.N.A. at an Annual or Special Meeting.
Any change in the dues structure must be
ratified by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of
delegates at an Annual or Special
Meeting.
(b) The charter fee to establish a new Char·
tered Local shall be one dollar ($1.00).
(c) The U.N.A. may accept a ny donation,
grant, bequest or other form of transfer
of funds or properties from any charit·
able, governmental, educational or other
source and may agree with the transfer·
rer to devote the funds or proper proper·
ties so transferred to any specific purpose
consistent with the objectives of the
U.N.A. without any political bias or
favours.
11.02 The U.N.A. shall have the right to levy assess·
ments for special purposes upo n its dues pay·
ers, provided that any such assessment must
first be approved by a two-thirds (2/3) vote at
an Annual or Special Meeting of the U.N.A.
Prior notice will be given.

Audit
12.01 The fiscal yearofU.N.A. sha ll be January 1st
to December 31st unless otherwise designat·
ed by the Executive Board. There shall be an
auditor of U.N.A. who shall not be a mem·
ber, employee, or relative of an employee, of
the U.N.A. ; and shall be a Chartered Accoun·
tant. The Executive Board shall appoint an
auditor annually. The audi tor shall conduct
an audit once every yea r and shall submit a
written report to the Annual General Meeting and to each local at least one hundred and
twenty (120) days prior to the Annual General
Meeting.

ARriCLE 13:
Chartered Locals
13.01 The U.N.A. may issue a Charter to any group
eligible for membership under Article 3, and
the group sha ll thereafter be referred to as a
"Chartered Local".
13.02 (a) Subject to the provisions of Article 13.03,
the Bylaws contained in Appendix "A"
shall be the Bylaws of every Chartered
Local.

11 .03 Any funds owed to the U.N.A. by a Chartered
Local pursuant to the provisions of this Con·
stilution shall constitute a preferred claim and
must be paid promptly by the Chartered
Local each month prior to the payment of any
other obligations of the Chartered Local.
11.04 (a) U.N.A. dues shall be one point one per· """'
cent (1.1 o/o) of gross income, with a mini·
mum of ten dollars ($10.00) per du es
payer per month .
(b) The U.N.A. shall issue to each Chartered
Local a monthly rebate. The monthly re·
bale of dues to the Chartered Locals shall
be as follows: For the first twenty (20)
dues payers or part thereof of the Local
the rebate shall be three dollars ($3.00)
per dues payer per month. For the next
one hundred (100) dues payers or part
thereof the rebate shall be two dollars
($2.00) per dues payer per month . For all
remaining dues payers the rebate shall be
one dollar ($1.00) per month. For less
than thirty (30) dues payers the rebate
shall be five dollars ($5.00) per dues payer
per month for the first twenty (20) and
three dollars ($3.00) per dues payer per
month for the remaining.
(c) There shall be an Emergency Fund. The
amount paid to the Emergency Fund on
a monthly basis shall be no less than
twelve percent (12%) of the dues revenue
of the U.N.A.
11 .05 In the event of a strike or the approval of a
loan or donation to other trade Unions,
assistance, as determined from time to time
by the Executive Board, shall be drawn from
the Emergency Fund.
11 .06 Any m ember paying dues at more than one
(1) source shall, upon request with submis·
sion of pay slips, receive from Provincial
Office a reimbursement of dues paid in excess
of the amount set out in Article 11.04.
11.07 For the purpose of this Article the three (3)
units of U .N.A. Local #121 shall be regarded
as separate Chartered Locals, and Local #121
shall not be regarded as a Chartered Local.

(b) In the event of conflict between any
clause of this Constitution and any clause
of the Bylaws of a Chartered Local, this
Constitution shall be paramount and the
clause in this Constitution shall apply.
13.03

raJ Except as a result of amendment to Appendix "A" at a meeting of U.N.A. , the
Bylaws of a Chartered Local may be
amended only with the approval of a two·
thirds (2/3) vote of those members
present a nd voting at a m eeting of the
Chartered Local, and with the approval
of the Executive Board of U.N.A.
(b) Bylaws of a Chartered Local which were
amended or altered prior to November 8,
1984 in accordance with the Constitution
of U.N.A. at that lime shall be deemed
to have been amended or altered in
accordance with Article 13.03 (a) .

13.04 All Collective Agreements with employers of
members shall be signed by two (2) Executive
Officers of the Chartered Local as the contracting party on behalf of the members
affected.
13.05 In any s ituatio n in which there is reason to
believe that a Chartered Local has adopted or
undertaken policies or activities contrary to
the principles and policies of the U. N .A., the
Executive Board shall have the power upon
a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the Executive Board
to conduct an investiga tion into the affairs of
the Chartered Local and to req uire the Chartered Local to amend and rectify any policies
or activities contrary to the principles and
policies of the U.N.A., and the Executive
Board may:
(a ) appoint a Trustee or Trustees for the
Chartered Local, o r
(b) revoke the Charter of the Chartered Lo·
cal on such terms and conditions as the
Executive Board may see fit.
Where the Executive Board determines
that the Charter of a Chartered Local is
to be revoked or a Trustee or Trustees are
appointed pursuant to the provisions of
ti.N.A. CONS'fl'ftrl' ION

5

this Article, the Chartered Local shall
be entitled to a fair hearing before the
Executive Board within three (3)
months. Any action of the Executive
Board under this Article may be appealed to the Annual General Meeting.

If the Annual General Meeting is scheduled for three (3) months or more from
the date of the d ecision of th e Executive Board, the Chartered Local may,
with at least one-third (113) of the Executive Board or one-third (1/3) of the
Cbartered Locals which shall represent
one-third (1/3 ) of the membe rship, demand a Special Meeting of the U .N .A.
This Special M eeting shall be held within two (2) months to consider the
Trusteeship or s uspended Charter.
13.06 (a) Where the Executive Board makes an
order provided for in Article 13.05, the
Executive Board may order that all
funds and properties of any nature held
by the Chartered Local s hall be he ld in
trust for the purpose of effecting a reorganization of the said Chartered LocaL If such a re-organization is effected, s uc h funds and properties of the
Chartered Local shall be reinvested
with the Chartered Local for its use and
benefit. If the Chartered Local is not reo rganized within a period o f o ne (1)
year, such funds and prope rties shall
reve rt to the provincial funds of U .N .A.
(b) Where the Executive Board orders that
all funds and properties held by a Charte red Local shall be held in trust of the
U.N.A., it s hall be the duty of the
officers of the Chartered Local to deliver forthwith a ll funds and properties
of any nature held by the Chartered Local to the Trustee or Trustees appointed
pursuant to the provisions of this Article
or duly au th orized age nt who shall be
entitled to take immediate possession
o f all funds, properties, books and
records of th e Chartered Local and
s hall have authority to bring appropria te lega l proceedings to secure suc h
funds, properties, books and records.
13.07 For the purpose of this Article th e three (3)
units o f U.N.A. Local # 12 1 shall be regarded
as separate Chartered Locals, and Local
#121 s ha ll not be regarded as a Chartered
Local.
13.08 For the purpose of this Article th e two (2)
units of U.N.A. Local #1 shall be regarded
as separate C harte red Locals. Local# 1 shall
not be regarded as a Chartered Local.

ARriCLE 14:
Merger a nd/or Transfer
14.01 A Chartered Local may merge and/or transfer its jurisdiction , rights, privileges, duties
and assets to one (1) or more Chartered Locals.
14.02 The Chartered Local transferring and the
Chartered Local(s) receiving a nd the Executive Board must each approve of the merger
and/or transfer.

acquiring its jurisdiction, rights, privileges,
duties and assets.

ARriCLE 15:
Constitutional Amendments
and Policy Resolutions
15.01 This Constitution may be amended or
altered only at a meeting of the U .N .A. by a
two-thirds (2/3) vote of those voting delegates
present and voting.

15.03 There shall be a Constitution and Resolutions
Review Committee struck by the Legislative
Committee of the Executive Board . The function of such Committee sha ll be to faci litate
the processing of constitutional amendments
and policy resolutions for U.N.A.'s Annual
General Meeting.
15.04 (a) Throughout the year and up to one
hundred (100) days prior to the dale of the
Annual General Meeting, any me'mber
may submit to the Constitution and Resolutions Review Committee a resolution
o r constitutional amendment in writing
signed by such mem ber. The Execu tive
Board shall have the right to submit any
resolution to the Committee at any time
up to the date of the meeting. Late resolutions shall be submitted to the Constitution and Resolutions Review Committee who shall consider the urgency of the
resolution. Only late resolutions deemed
to be of an urgent nature shall be placed
before the meeting.

(a) d eal with only one (1) subject;
(b) be submitted on the appropriate forms
before respective deadlines.

ARriCLE 16:
Rules of P rocedure and Order of
Business at Meetings of the UNA.
16.0 1 The ru les of procedure and order of business
at Meetings of the U .N .A. shall be governed
by the current edition of Robert's Rules of
Order (Copyright 198 1).
16.02 A Parliamentarian shall be appointed for each
Annua l General Meeting.

APPENDIX 'W'
Bylaws Governing
Chartered Loca ls
BYLAW I - NAME
This organization shall be known as the United
Nurses of Alberta (hereinafter referred to as the
"Chartered Local").

15.05 (a) The Constitution and Resolutions Review
Committee shall:

BYLAW 11 - EXECUTIVE
1. The affairs of the Chartered Local shall be administered by an Executive which shall be composed of the following:

(i)

receive and prepare constitutional
amendments and resolutions for
presentation to the Annual General
Meeting;

(ii) have power to eliminate duplications
in constitu tiona l amendments and
resolutions s ubmitted, after consultation with a nd agreement of the
proposer;
(iii) have the power to determine the order in w hich constitutional amendments and resolu tions will be
presented to the meeting;
(iv) have power to edit constitutional
amendments and resolutions provided that the purpose of any such
amendment o r resolution is not
changed and only after consultation
with and agreement of the proposer.
(v) have the power to propose constitutional amendments up to forty-five
(45) days prior to the Annual General Meeting.

14.04 The transfer and/or merger must be approved
by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of the membership
of each Local concerned by secret ballot. The
voting shall be conducted in accordance with
Article 9: Strike Votes and Ratification Votes.

15.06 A majority of the members of the Constit ution and Resolutions Review Committee shall
constitute a quorum.

r.:\'.A. ( '0:\'STITl'TION

15.09 All amendments and resolutions must:

(b) The proposer sha ll have the right to appeal the Committee's decision by having
her appea l placed before the General
Assembly of the meeting.

14.03 A m eeting between the parties must be held
for the transfer and/or merger.

H

15.08 The Constitution and Resolutions Review
Committee shall prepare a supplementary
report containing those resolutions which
have been submitted to the Committee by the
Executive Board after the preparation of the
report referred to in 15.07 and this supplementary report shall be presented to the
meeting.

15.02 Except where otherwise required in this Constitution a resolution s hall require a simple
majo rity to pass.

(b) The proposer shall have the right to appeal the Committee's decision by having
her appeal placed before the General
Assembly.

14.05 A Chartered Local may a lso merge with
another bargaining agent for the purpose of

Chartered Local at least thirty (30) days prior
to the Annual General Meeting. This report
shall contain all constitutional amendments
and resolutions and their rationale.

15.07 The Constitution and Resolutions Review
Committee shall prepare a report which sha ll
be sent to the President and Secretary of each

1)

President

2)

Vice-President

3)

Secretary

4)

Treasurer

The Executive shall meet at least once every four
(4) months.
2. Throughout these Bylaws, the term " President"
shall be deemed to refer to the President of the
Chartered Local unless otherwise expressly
stated.
BYLAW Ill - REPRESENTATIVES
An appropriate number of representatives may be
elected by and from the m embers of the Chartered
Loca l to represent nurses and other allied personnel
employed in specific areas or functions of their employer's establishment. The said representatives may
be appointed by the Executive if a majority of the
members of the Chartered Local at a meeting authorize the Executive to appoint such representatives as
it sees fit.
BYLAW IV- COMMITTEES
There shall be a G rievance Committee composed of
three (3) members. One of these shall act as the Chairman and they sha ll be elected at an Annual or Special Meeting of the Chartered Local.
All standing committees of the Chartered Local shall
be elected by the membership. The Executive may
set up special committees of the C hartered Local and
may appoint the members of each s uch Committee
from the members of the Chartered Local, the Chairman to be chosen by the Executive and to be entitled

to a casting vote in the case of a tie. The Executive may
delegate any of its powers to any such committees.
These committees shall be subject to any restrictions
or regulations imposed upon them by the Executive.
BYLAW V- ELECTIONS
l. The Executive shall be elected at each Annual
General Meeting or whe re the Chartered Local
wishes the term of office may be for 2 years with
alternate Executive elected at each Annual General Meeting.
2. Nominations for the Executive and for any other
positions for which elections are held shall be
received from the floor .
3. All elections shall be by secret ballot or show of
hands.
4. lil

A motion to rescind the election of an officer
of a local may only occur at an Annual or Special Meeting of the local, referred to in Bylaw
VIII provided that at least fourteen (14) days'
notice of such motion has been given.

(ii) Any motion to rescind the election of an
officer of a local must be passed by a twothirds (2/3) vote of the members present and
voting at such meeting.
(iii) Elections for such resultant vacancy shall
occur at this same meeting.
BYLAW VI- VACANCI ES
In the event that a member or members of the Executive of the Chartered Local should resign , die or
otherwise cease to act, the Executive shall appoint
from the members of the Chartered Local a replacement until the next general meeting. As much notice
as possible will be given at this meeting and an election will be held to fill the vacancy according to Bylaw
V (2) and (3).
BYLAW VU- ELECTION OF VOTI NG
DELEGATE
1. Any two (2) members of the Chartered Local may
nominate a voting delegate provided that they
produce satisfactory proof that the consent of the
nominee to stand for election has been obtained.
2. A voting delegate and an alternate voting delegate
to attend any meeting of the United Nurses of
Alberta (hereinafter referred to as the U.N.A.)
shall be elected by a majority vote of those membe rs of the Chartered Local present at a meeting
of the Chartered Local. The alternate voting
delegate shall act whenever the voting delegate
is unable to do so.
3. Both the voting delegate and the alternate voting
delegate shall be members of the Chartered Local.
BYLAW VIII -MEETINGS
1. Once in every calendar year, there shall be an
Annual General Meeting of the Chartered Local.
At least two (2) weeks' notice shall be given. During the Annual General Meeting , reports shall be
presented by each member of the Executive, the
affairs of the Chartered Local shall be reviewed
and planned, and elections shall be held. The
Chartered Local's Annual General Meeting shall
be held by June 30 of each year.
2. A Chartered Local shall hold general meetings at
least quarterly on the call of the President or her
designate.
3. (a) A Special Meeting may be called at any time
and place by the President of the Chartered
Local. Members shall be given reasonable notice of any such meeting.
(b) A Special Meeting of the Chartered Local may
be called a t the request of any th ree (3) members of the Chartered Local made in writing
to the President. Any req uest for a Special
Mee ting of the Local shall specify the subjects
to be considered at such a Special Meeting.
As much notice as possible will be given and
the meeting will be held within seven (7) days
of the request with the exception of a Special
Meeting held in reference to Bylaw V(4).
(c) The assigned District Representative shall be
invited by the Local President to attend at
least one (1) Local general m eeting.
4. The rules of procedure and order of business
governing meetings of the Chartered Local shall
be as outlined in accordance with Article 16 of
U .N.A.'s Constitution.

BYLAW IX - Q UORUM
1. The majority of members present at a m eeting of
the Chartered Local shall constitute a quorum
of the Chartered Local for the transaction of
business.
2. Three (3) members of the Executive shall constitute a quorum of the Executive for the transaction
of business.
BYLAW X - DUTIES OF OFFICERS
President
(a) The President shall be the senior executive officer
of the Chartered Local and shall act as chairman
at all meetings of the Executive and the Chartered
Local. In the case of a tie in a vote of the Executive or the Chartered Local or any other committee of which she is chairman, the President shall
have the casting vote.
(b) The President shall be an ex-officio member of all
committees .
(c) The President o r delegate shall represent the Chartered Local on the District Committee.
Vice-President
The Vice-President shall carry out duties as assigned
by the President and act in lieu of the President in
her absence.

2. Another Chartered Local or Locals must be willing to receive the Local.
3. The Local wishing to merge must call a meeting
for the purpose of m erger and transfer. Notice
must be given of this m eeting. At the meeting a
motion is made to " merge and transfer its jurisdiction , rights, privileges, duties and assets to the
transferee". The motion must be passed by a twothirds (2/3) vote of those present at the meeting.
The vote on this motion shall be in accordance
w ith Articles 9 and 14 of the Constitution.
4. A meeting of the receiving Local or Locals must
be called for the purpose of approving the me rger and transfer. Notice must be given of this meeting. At this meeting a motion is made to "approve
the merger and transfer" . The motion must be
passed by a two-thirds (2/3) vote of those present
at the meeting. The vote on this motion shall be
in accordance with Articles 9 and 14•of the Constitution .
5. A meeting of both parties is called by the President of each. 1'wo (2) weeks' no tice must be given
of this meeting. At the meeting a motion is made
to approve the merger and transfer.
6. Election for officers of the Chartered Local which
has resulted from the merger will be held .
7. The Chartered Local may amend the Bylaws

Secr e tary
The Secretary:
(a) shall keep a record of all meetings of the Chartered
Local and of all meetings of the Executive;
(b) shall be responsible for the correspondence of the
Chartered Local;

governing the Chartered Local as set out in Ap·
pendix " A" . The amendments must be approved
by the Executive of the United Nurses of Albe rta.
8. The merger must be approved by the Executive

Board of UNA.
9. Once the Secretary-Treasurer of UNA receives no·

(c) in conjunction with the Treasurer, shall keep a
record of the membership of the Chartered Local.

tice and documents pertaining to the merger, a
new or amended Charter shall be issued .

Treasure r
The Treasurer:
(a) shall be responsible for arranging for the collection and forwarding of members' dues of the UNA;

BYLAW XV -TR USTEESHI P
Whe never a Trustee for a Chartered Local has been
appointed pursuant to Article 13.05 of the Constitution of UNA, such Trustee shall take over the com plete direction , control and supervision of the
Chartered Local.

(b) shall be responsible for the safekeeping of the monies of the Chartered Local and shall keep a record
of all fina ncia l transactions;
(c) shall make a financial report at regular meetings,
the Annual General Meeting of the Chartered Local and at meetings of the Executive;
(d) in conjunction with the Secretary, shall keep a
record of the membership of the Chartered Local.
BYLAW XI - LOCAL DOCUMENTS
Any member(s) of the Executive of the Chartered Local or member( si of any committee of the Chartered
Local who cease to hold office for any reason shall
within one month, turn over to the current Local Ex·
ecutive all documents, assets and property of the
Chartered Local in her possession.
Jttllf

BYLAW XVI
United Nurses of Alberta shall be empowered to
negotiate and enter into regional, local or area wide
collective bargaining agreements on behalf of the
Chartered Local.
BYLAW XVIl - AMENDMENTS
The Bylaws of a Chartered Local may be an)ended
only in accordance with Article 13 of the Constitution of the U.N.A.

APPENDIX "B"

,

BYLAW XII - FINANCES
1. Monies of the Chartered Loca l sha ll be kept in a
chartered bank or credit union o r trust company.
2. 'fransactions shall be by cheq ue.
3. The Treasurer and the President or signing officer
s hall eo-sign cheques.
4. There shall be an annual audit by the UNA at the
end of each fiscal year.
BYLAW XIII - DUES AND ASSESSMENTS
1. The Chartered Local may establish initiation fees
and monthly dues higher than those set by
the UNA.
2. The Chartered Local may levy assessments for
special purposes upon its members, provided that
any assessment must first be approved at a meeting of the Chartered Local.
BYLAW XIV- MERGER
A Chartered Local may merge with another bargain·
ing agent for the purpose of acquiring its jurisdiction,
rights, privileges, duties and assets.
The Chartered Local may, by a two-thirds (2/3) vote
of those present at a meeting of the Chartered Local
called for that purpose of which notice has been given
to the members, merge with and transfer its jurisdiction, rights, privileges, duties and assets to one (1)
or more other Chartered Locals.
1. One or more Chartered Locals must be willing to
transfer.

Terms of Reference for
Dist rict Representatives
and District Committees
BYLAWS GOVERNING
DISTR ICTS OF THE UNA
I. Organization of Districts of the U.N.A.

1. The number of Districts and the area covered by
each District sha ll be determined a t the Annual
General Meeting of the U.N.A.
2. There shall be a committee to adm inister the affairs of the District. The committee shall be composed of:
(a) District Representatives;
(b) the President or designate from each Chartered
Local in that District and in the case of Local
#121, the President or designate of each unit;
(c ) any member of the District who holds the position of Secretary or Treasurer of the District.
3. In the event that a District Representative should
resign, die or otherwise cease to act, a replacement
shall be elected at the next District Meeting. The
District Chairperson shall appoint a interim District Representative until such meeting. An election shall be held at the next Annual General
Meeting in accordance with Article 10.04 or for
the unexpired term as appropriate.
l ' XA. ( 'ONSTITFfJON

7

4. The District Committee has the power to appoint
or elect other members of the District to committees for the purpose of recommending action to
the District Committee.
5. The Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson shall be
elected by the District Committee at the first District Committee meeting following the Annual
General Meeting. The Chairperson and ViceChairperson shall each be District Representatives.

The Executive of the District shall consist of the
District Representatives and the Secretary and
Treasurer or the Secretary-Treasurer of the
District.

(iii)

In conjunction with the District Chairperson, prepare the annual district
budget.

(iv)

Shall present the necessary documentation to the U.N.A. for an Annual Audit at the end of the fiscal year.

IV. Meetings of the Districts of U .N.A.
l. District Committee meetings shall be held at least

quarterly.
2. The objectives of such meetings shall be:

(a) to increase communications between the
locals;

ll. District Representatives

(b) to co-ordinate efforts for a common purpose;

l. Each District Representative must be a member

(c) to act as a liaison between the Chartered Locals and the provincial body.

of a Chartered Local in the District she represents.
In the event that a District Representative shall
change her place of employment from one 11) District to another or for any reason ceases to qualify
for membership in the U.N.A., during her term
of office, she shall resign forthwith.
Ill. Du ties o f Officers
1. Chairperson

(a) T he District Chairperson shall have the fol lowing duties and limitations:
(i)

Call and chair the Executive and district
meetings;

(ii)

Act as ex-officio member of all committees;

(iii)

In association with Locals in the area,
draft an agenda which shall be forwarded with notice of the meetings;

(iv)

(v)
(vi)

Present the views, concerns and direction of the District at the Executive
Board meetings;
Appoint interim District Representatives;

(viii) Prepare Distri ct Reports for Board
Meetings and Annual District Report to
Annual General Meeting and any further reports deemed necessary by the
Di s tri ct
Chairperson or the Executive Board .
2. Vice-Chairperson

(a) The Vice-Chairperson shall carry out duties
as assigned by the Chairperson and act in lieu
of the Chairperson in her absence.
3. Secretary

(a) The Secretary shall have the following duties:

(ii)
liii)

(iv)

Shall keep a record of all meetings of the
District and of all meetings of the Executive;
Shall be responsible for the correspondence of the District;
Shall maintain current phone fan-out
lists for the entire District Committee.
Such lists shall be forwarded to the
members of the District Committee, the
Representative for that District on the
provincial negotiating committees and
the President of U.N.A. ;
A copy of the minutes shall be forwarded to the Provincial Office and locals in
that District.

4. Treasurer
(a) The Treasurer shall have the following duties:

8

tled to vote at the District Meetings.
4. (a) A Special Meeting may be called at any time

and p lace by the Chairperson. The District
Committee members shall be given reasonable notice of any such meeting. The purpose
of such meeting shall be provided w ith this
notice.
(b) A Special Meeting of the District may be
called at any time and place at the request in
writing of at least one-third (1/3) of the ~em­
bers of the District Committee evidenced by
notice in writing by such members and shall
be held within forty-five (45) days of the
receipt by the Chairperson of any such request. Any such request shall specify the subjects to be considered at such special meeting.
· le) At a Special Meeting of the District, for the
purpose of making a motion to resind the election of a District Representative:
(i)

representation of Locals at such meeting shall be as per Article 8 of the
U .N .A. Constitution;

(ii)

such motion must be passed by a twothirds (2/3) vote of the voting delegates
present and voting at such meeting;

(iii)

elections for such resultant vacancy
shall oecur at th is Special Meeting.
Nominations shall be received from the
floor.

In conjunction with the District Treasurer, prepare a District annual budget;

(vii) Conduct the business of the District ;

(i)

3. Only District Committee members shall be enti-

(d) The business of the District shall be in accordance with the U. N.A. Constitution and its
Bylaws and with the U.N.A. Policies.
(e) The rules of procedure and order of business
governing meetings of the District shall be as
outlined in accordance with Article 16 of the
U.N.A.'s Constitution.

5. There shall be an efficient, effective and well
maintained communication network between all
levels of the Union structure, including maintenance of a complete and correct phone fan-out
system in every District and Local.
6. U .N.A. shall ensure the maintenance of an Emergency Fund.
7. The U .N.A. shall have a financial administrative

structure capable of ensuring full value and full
accoun ting for each dolla r spent.
8. U .N .A. shall have a capital budget, and shall con-

tinue to have an operating budget, both of which
shall be consistent wi th the goals of U.N.A.
9. U .N .A. shall continue to promote publicly legis-

lation and political positions favourable to U .N.A.
members and consistent with the goals of U .N .A.
in the areas of:
(a) negotiations;
(b) matte rs of concern to our members as health
car~ workers; and
(c) matters of concern to members as citizens and
consumers.

B. Executive Board
1. The Executive Board shall continue to have the
commitment, knowledge and authority to manage
the business of the U.N.A. in the best interest of
the membership.
C. Locals
1. The U .N .A. shall continue to be committed to the
principle of member helping member through the
development of the local leadership in:
(a) processing grievances at the local level;
(b) identifying and resolving professional responsibility issues at the local level;
(c) identifying and resolv ing Occupational
Health and Safety issues and promoting the
health and safety of the local's membership;
(d) pr0moting the principles of trade unionism
and U.N.A. among the local's membership.

D. Membe rs hip
1. All members shall have knowledge and commitment to the principles of trade unionism with special reference to U.N.A.
2. U .N .A. shall encourage participation by the rank
a nd file membership in U.N.A. affairs.

Short-Term Goals
1. Free collective bargaining for all U .N .A. members.

LONG & SHORr-TERM
GOAlS OF U.N.A.
Long-Term Goals

2. Ensure that all Hospital Locals will have a function-

al P.R.C. and Health and Safety Committee as per the
Hospitals Contract. Month ly minutes shall be sent
to Provincial Office.
3. Ensure that Local leadership is processing grievances
at the Local level up to Step 3 of the grievance

procedure.

A. Gene ra l
1. All U .N .A. activity shall reflect the universal principles of trade unionism, including co-operation
with other Unions.

4. Ensure participation by rank and file members during negotiations by reinforcement of the process set
up for collective bargaining.

2. U.N .A. shall maintain the democratic nature of
the organization through:

5. All Local Executives, Committee members and Ward
Reps. shall have the opportunity to attend workshops, as appropriate.

(a) open and democratic Annual and Special
Meetings with the authority to make major
policy decisions;

6. (a) Ensure that financial expenditures of U.N.A.
reflect the budgetary allotments.
(b) Proper documentation of expenditures.

(b) a commitment to openness, cooperation and
participation of the membership at every level
of the Union structure; and

(c) Ensure the implementation of a documentation
system for expenditures.

(c) maintenance of open and democratic negotiations and ratification procedures.

7. Development of materials such as political action kits
that will assist U.N.A. political action committees to
ensure the achievement of Long-term Goal #9 (a).

(i)

Shall hold the monies of the District in
safekeeping and shall keep a record of
all financial transactions;

3. U .N .A. shall continue to organize all unorganized
working nurses in Alberta .

(ii)

Shall make a financial report at regular
meetings of the District and at meetings
of the District Executive;

4. Eve ry U .N.A. member shall work in optimal
working conditions achieved through a commitment to group bargaining and maintenance of

U.N.A. CONSTITtri'ION

contractual provisions co-ordinated at the provincial level.

FEBRUARY

JANUARY
SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

F RIDAY

SATURDAY

1

2

3

4

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1

New Year's Day

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

25

26

27

28

29

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

1

2

3

4

8

9

10

11

15

16

17

18

Alberta Fa mily Day

26

27

28

29

30

31

23

M ARCH
SUNDAY

1

MONDAY

APRIL
TUESDAY

3':;~.

2

~

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY
'>

:f:

4

FRIDAY

5

H

SATURDAY

*6

'11
m

9

--

10
-

11

12

13

16

17

18

19

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

ll.

-

14

la

j

15

MONDAY

7

-

lhr.eq.tfive J.Ward,Meeting

"

SUNDAY

e ./}

~';,

'

8

24

20

21

]

5

6
-

7

13

14

-

'-

'·

12

Good Friday

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

19

20

21

22

23

27

28

29

30

24

25

Easter Sunday

29

30

31

26

MAY
SUNDAY

JUNE

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1

2

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1

2

3

4

5

6

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

30

28

29

30

Victoria Day

24
31

25

AUGUST

JULY
SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1

2

3

4

9

10

11

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1

Canada Day

5

6

7

8

2

4

5

6

7

8

10

11

12

13

14

15

24
31

25

26

27

28

29

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

3
Augu st
Civic Day

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

9

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

16

26

27

28

29

30

31

23
30

OCfOBER

SEPrEMBER
SUNDAY

6

MONDAY

7

-

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

1

2

3

4

5

8

9

10

11

1? J

4

5

6

7

15

16

17

18

19

11

12

13

-

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1

2

3

8

9

10

14

15

16

17

,::

~l
-

Labour Day

13

14

Than ksgiving Day

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

'

18

19

20

21

22 - 23

24

25

26

17

28

29

30

31

;

27

28

29

30

l

,-

I

I
'

NOVEMBER
SUNDAY

MONDAY

1991 Annual General Mee&laa
Weltla Hotel • P.dmolltoa

DECEMBER

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

SUNDAY

MONDAY

TUESDAY

WEDNESDAY

THURSDAY

FRIDAY

SATURDAY

1

2

3

4

5

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

19

20

21

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

Remembrance Day

15

16

17

18

Christmas Day

29

30

27

28

29

30

31

Boxing Day