International Women’s Day – Vice President’s Message
As a union of health care professionals, we often express the importance of standing in Solidarity. Vice President Leanne Alfaro discusses HSAA’s commitment to solidarity, women’s rights and how we hope to inspire and educate future leaders.
International Women’s Day is a day of recognizing and celebrating the social, societal, cultural, political and economic contributions of women from across generations and around the world. International Women’s Day also stands for solidarity. It is a day for women to unite and fight for their rights to equal respect, opportunity and the abolishment of women’s suffrage and oppression.
HSAA holds a strong commitment to human rights, equality and non-discrimination. We advocate for inclusive communities and fair rights of all people—regardless of sex or gender identity. Women make up approximately 79 percent of our membership, spanning a multitude of health care professions. We bring a unique dynamic to our membership. We are determined to progress our health care professions to better care for our members in the workplace as well as to empower us to provide the highest standard of care to our patients.
It’s an opportune time for HSAA members to celebrate and engage in International Women’s Day activities. We are excited to be hosting our first Women in Leadership Workshop, which will be held virtually on March 28. Participants will be encouraged to explore and expand on their understanding of what it means to be a woman in leadership. Learn to challenge and uproot sex-biased traditional assumptions of women’s roles in leadership and to create new understandings of women in leadership and how we can support one another. We are pleased to offer this workshop to all HSAA members who identify as women or as gender non-conforming.
We are also honoured to have two highly respected, passionate and knowledgeable women presenting at two of our four March Speaker Series webinars. President of Workplace Solutions Inc. Michèle Luit provided HSAA members with an opportunity to enhance their conflict management skills and develop a better understanding of how to manage difficult conversations. Conflict management is an essential skill for everyone to have, but even more so for women due to the prevalence of gender bias in the workplace.
On March 29, former Vice President of HSAA Trudy Thomson will present at the Speaker Series online seminar, “The Value of Pensions.” Trudy will draw on her own experience as a retired HSAA board member to show how a good defined-benefit pension plan is the key to financial security in retirement. Trudy will draw on her invaluable experience and provide unique insight into the important role of secure pensions in achieving empowerment and gender equity. HSAA values the contributions and unique perspectives that women bring to our union and to our health care professions in Alberta.
Today, and every day, we are honoured to advocate for women’s rights and to fight for an equal and just society—free of sex and/or gender-oriented oppression. We encourage our members to stand with us in solidarity and in recognition of International Women’s Day.
In Solidarity,
Leanne