Appreciation and solidarity this holiday season
Friends, I recently found myself gathering my thoughts to address members who sit on health and safety committees in our workplaces. I quickly found myself stuck. How do you say more than thank you? I started typing out a list of all the things we have going on this month to show our members they are supported and appreciated.
Beginning this December, there will be rounds of radio, television and digital ads highlighting the contributions you make to Albertans. These ads will feature the importance of your work and ask people to show their support for you. There will also be a billboard campaign launched in communities across the province featuring our members. We are making donations, on your behalf, that help achieve HSAA’s – and every union’s – goal of making life better for all. And we will again be calling each and every one of you in the new year to check in. And then I started thinking about the members I was about to speak to. These members met for an evening to discuss how they can be most effective in holding employers and managers accountable for your health and safety in the workplace.
As I thought about how amazing it is these members are taking additional steps to protect their peers, the old adage hit me… actions speak louder than words. By stepping up and taking responsibility, they are showing all members they are appreciated. Showing appreciation requires action, not just words. By taking the action, they are recognizing each other’s and their peer’s value, contributions and ongoing situation. Unfortunately, the current government isn’t showing actual appreciation for health-care workers.
The laughingly named Restoring Balance to Alberta’s Workplaces Act passed last year and is slowly being put into force in Alberta — this includes new rules that came into effect December 1 that threaten our right to meaningfully participate on health and safety committees. BUT… those rights are in our collective bargaining agreements, thus the importance of having these members on committees to ensure they are upheld. Appreciation is an action… and so is solidarity. Our union is built on solidarity. We are like-minded individuals who have come together to support each other in pursuit of common interests, for sure.
Last month, we wrapped up Labour Relations Conferences with all sorts of commitments coming from members to further the collective good: attending rallies both by us and other labour and social partners, bi-monthly meetings with members to keep up on issues important to them, and donating to and volunteering as a union for charities. When you add in our jobs… we, all of us, willingly give of ourselves for the good of others, every day. And so… in appreciation and solidarity, and on behalf of all of us here at HSAA, may you and all you hold dear have a safe and happy holiday season!
Mike