UFCW joins the call to help Alberta’s health care system!
Earlier today, the Alberta Federation of Labour and the province’s major health care unions (UNA, HSAA, CUPE, AUPE) called on Premier Kenney to request federal assistance in addressing Alberta’s overrun hospitals as we grapple with the fourth wave of COVID-19.
The leaders of those unions are hearing from their members that our health care system is not on the verge of collapse, but collapsing right in front of our eyes.
Read an important CTV article about the call for federal assistance for Alberta’s hospitals and health care workers.
“As a union that represents frontline, essential workers, we know all too well how devastating this fourth wave is,” said UFCW Local 401 President Thomas Hesse. “Every day, our members go to work and face the risk of exposure to new variants of this virus. They need to know they can rely on a functioning health care system.”
“That system is collapsing,” added Hesse. “We need help, and we need it now.”
UFCW Local 401 members work in industries that have been heavily impacted by the global pandemic, including retail grocery, food processing, health care, hospitality, and oil and gas. Our union has been fighting for a focus on worker safety since the beginning of the global pandemic.
“UFCW Local 401 unequivocally and immediately joins in unity with the province’s major health care unions in calling for federal assistance,” added Union Treasurer Richelle Stewart. “We must act now to stop the collapse of Alberta’s health care system as we battle the fourth wave of the pandemic.”
Posted on: September 18,2021