Info Picket: Devonshire Care Centre Nurses Want a Fair Deal

Members of the United Nurses of Alberta who work at the Devonshire Care Centre in south Edmonton held an information picket on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012, as part of their effort to achieve a fair first collective agreement. The Registered Nurses from the private, for-profit care long-term care centre were joined by hundreds of UNA members from across Alberta and allies from the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, the Alberta Federation of Labour, and the Edmonton and District Labour Council. The nurses at the Devonshire Care Centre, members of UNA Local 417, were also taking a strike vote that day. The small group of about 15 nurses had been negotiating for more than a year without success for a first collective agreement with the B.C.-based for-profit corporation that owns the facility, Park Place Seniors Living. The employer was offering this small group of women pay, benefits, and premiums worth about $9 per hour less on many shifts than it pays RNs doing the same work at other private sector care centres in Alberta, including some operated by the same company and at public health care facilities.