Month: April 2020

Letter to Keyano College staff confirms government isn’t coughing up

WOOD BUFFALO – Keyano College is proceeding with cuts to the Northern Living Allowance to employees after failing to receive confirmation that the Alberta government will fund it beyond June 2020.

A letter from the college to employees confirms that the monthly allowance of $1,040 per person will be taken off the pay packages of employees in July.  Keyano employees are the second group after childcare workers to lose the monthly benefit since the Kenney government was elected.

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill said he was worried other Fort McMurray residents would soon lose the benefit.

“First it was childcare workers, then Keyano employees, I’m worried municipal workers, healthcare workers, firefighters and others will lose it next,” said Gill.

“Jason Kenney promised to support oil and gas communities,” said Gill. “By defunding the allowance, after everything Fort McMurray has been through, is a slap in the face to a city that is still struggling.”

Started during boom times, the allowance assisted Wood Buffalo residents with the high cost of living. Gill said that the allowance now serves a different purpose.

“With the fire, the economic downturn, the crash in oil prices, and the COVID-19 crisis, Fort McMurray residents need help more than ever,” said Gill.

“The living allowance is a lifeline. Don’t cut it.

Union calls on Kenney government to restore services to students

EDMONTON – As school districts across Alberta begin letting go of support staff, their union says that because of cutbacks by the Kenney government, many staff will not return in the fall.

“When students return to school in September, there will be fewer staff dealing with more kids,” said CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill. “Special needs kids will have to make do with less support as they re-adjust to in class learning.”

Gill said promises to bring back laid off workers after the pandemic “are false and misleading.” Gill noted that because of cuts in the March budget, most districts are not going to be able to bring back staff.

“Today, Edmonton Public Schools will lay off over 2,100 support staff,” said Gill. “But we know that district has to cut $90 million from its funding in September. “Depending on a few variables, between 600-800 support staff will not return.”

“When Jason Kenney and Adriana LaGrange say the layoffs are temporary and due to COVID, they are lying. Again.”

Gill said that over 7,500 school support staff have been given notice of layoff with many districts still to announce their numbers. Most layoffs will happen on May 1st. Another 6,000 substitute teachers will also be dismissed.

“The damage this is doing to the current generation of students cannot be calculated,” said Gill. “One year ago, Jason Kenney promised he wouldn’t cut education. But instead he’s picking on the youngest and most vulnerable of our population to pay for his $4.7 billion tax cut to profitable corporations.”

FORT MCMURRAY – Provincial funding cuts are forcing Keyano College to cancel the northern living allowance of over $1,000 per month to its staff.

At a meeting this evening, Keyano College board members reported that the Alberta government has still not funded the Northern Allowance for 2019-20, nor have they committed to funding it for the fiscal year that started on April 1, 2020. Because of the lack of commitment from the Kenney government, the board cannot offer the allowance to employees. Board members discussed but did not approve actions to address the cut.

Similar cuts were made last month to childcare workers in the city.

About 140 Keyano College employees belong to the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill called on the Alberta government to reverse the decision.

“Jason Kenney promised to support oil and gas communities,” said Gill. “By defunding the allowance, after everything Fort McMurray has been through, it is clear Kenney’s commitment was a lie.”

Started during boom times, the allowance assisted Wood Buffalo residents with the high cost of living. Gill said that the allowance now serves a different purpose.

“With the fire, the economic downturn, the crash in oil prices, and the COVID crisis, Fort McMurray residents need help more than ever,” said Gill.

Gill says he expects other city residents will soon lose their access to the allowance.

“The living allowance is a lifeline. Don’t cut it.”

CALGARY – One fifth of the staff at McKenzie Town Care Centre have tested positive for COVID-19, a situation that has their union calling for big changes to the way the province handles staffing in the long-term care sector.

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill wrote to Health Minister Tyler Shandro suggesting detailed measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Gill’s letter said current rules allowing workers to move from facility to facility, while still leaving most seniors’ facilities dangerously short staffed, were not sufficient.

“The absence of a fifth of the employees is life-threatening for residents,” wrote Gill.  “Normal guidelines concerning nutrition, hygiene, and recreation cannot be implemented if there is no staff to do it, let alone COVID-specific protocols for isolation and deep-cleaning.”

Gill called on the Kenney government to implement a province wide staffing strategy for nursing facilities. Among the most needed reforms is an end to the practice of staff working at more than one facility at a time.

“According to preliminary survey data, 37% of long-term care workers work in more than one site,” said Gill. “This mobility is creating a very dangerous situation.”

“Your government should create the conditions for a quick and coordinated response that ensures that workers are not penalized,” wrote Gill.

Gill said some individual facilities are preventing staff from working elsewhere, but that without provincial co-ordination, the efforts will likely fall short or fail completely. And unless wages are increased, short staffing will continue to be a problem during the crisis.

“We are in this mess because of low wages and poor working conditions,” said Gill. “A successful strategy to get out of it requires a wage subsidy to increase and level wages across the sector.”

CUPE wants changes similar to those enacted in British Columbia, requiring a re-structuration of staffing practices and a rapid reorganization of the workforce. “These goals need to be accomplished without punishing health-care workers in the front-lines.”