Extendicare staff vote heavily in favour of strike

Workers at eight Extendicare long-term care facilities in Alberta have voted overwhelmingly in favour of strike action.
A statement by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), which represents the workers, said that recent series of votes has set the stage for the largest seniors care strike in provincial history.
The AUPE Extendicare bargaining group includes 1,200 seniors care employees and is the largest private-sector seniors care bargaining group in Alberta.
The eight Extendicare facilities provide about 1,000 seniors care beds.
Despite the favourable vote, a strike is not automatic.
The union and Extendicare will meet with a mediator July 5 in Edmonton. If there is no resolution on July 5, the union says it will plan its next steps. If a strike is called, 72 hours notice will be given.
According to the union, Extendicare is seeking net earnings rollbacks, a major reduction in sick time and a drop in the number of named holidays to the lowest number in any healthcare agreement in Alberta.
"What the employer proposes could drive experienced staff away to work at other seniors care sites," said AUPE negotiator Kevin Davediuk. "The agreement the employer wants will discourage new staff from working for Extendicare. Without an agreement that keeps and attracts new staff, elderly residents will be left to suffer and we're fighting against that."
As reported by the AUPE, worksite votes in favour of strike action were as follows: Extendicare Eaux Claires, Edmonton, 93 per cent; Extendicare Holyrood, Edmonton, 97 per cent; Extendicare Athabasca, 100 per cent; Extendicare Mayerthorpe, 96 per cent; Extendicare Cedars Villa, Calgary, 95 per cent; Extendicare Hillcrest, Calgary, 95 per cent; Extendicare Michener Hill, Red Deer, 99 per cent; Extendicare Fairmont Park, Lethbridge, 100 per cent.

Free museum admissions during Seniors’ Week

Albertans who are 65 years and up receive free admission to Alberta’s 18 provincial historic sites and museums during Seniors’ Week, June 3 to 9.

These include Rutherford House, Royal Alberta Museum, Father Lacombe Chapel / Chapelle du Père Lacombe, Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village in the Edmonton area and Lougheed House in Calgary.

The free admission is in recognition of this year’s theme for the week, “Creative and Inspirational,” reflecting the spirit of seniors and the many roles they play in all Albertans’ lives.

Seniors’ Week kicked off with a ceremony at the Golden Age Centre in Grande Prairie.
“As grandparents, volunteers, employers, and employees, seniors continue to be leaders in our communities,” said George VanderBurg, associate minister of seniors. “Seniors’ Week is a great time to personally thank so many wonderful Albertans for their continued contributions to building a stronger province.”

As part of the week, a ceremony in Edmonton on Wednesday, June 5, to honour eight recipients of the Minister’s Seniors Service Awards. These awards celebrate individuals and organizations that make a difference in the lives of seniors. Eighty-eight nominations were received this year.

Read the June issue of the Edmonton Senior newspaper to find out about events taking place in Edmonton during Senior’s Week. The June Calgary Senior features coverage of some of the events taking place in Calgary. Information about other events taking place throughout the province is available on the website of the Seniors Advisory Council for Alberta.

Former Edmonton Senior columnist dies at 99

Former Edmonton Senior columnist Lou Broten has died at the age of 99.

His death occurred on May 7, following some years of ill health.

Broten was born in North Dakota in 1914, and then the family moved to a farm in Saskatchewan three years later.

During the course of his life he was a homesteader, freight train rider, salmon fisher, railway locomotive engineer and international trade union official, as well as a World War II veteran.

Broten began writing a column for the Edmonton Senior in 1994, his first venture into journalism. Adorned with a photo of him in his trademark hat, the column became a must-read for many of the newspaper’s readers.

“When I started writing articles for the Edmonton Senior I had no journalistic experience, so it was a matter of trial and error,” he once wrote. “Fortunately, as a senior citizen I had the experience of a lifetime on which to draw…”

He touched on politics and issues of the day, provincial, national and international, along with favourite topics such as the importance of growing food in the city.

Holding strong opinions but never shrill, Broten was an adherent of no particular party. A theme he returned to many times was the need for a new style of non-partisan politics and government.

Broten often drew on lessons from history, including his own experiences of the Depression and wartime, to point the out the path to social progress. He frequently used the image of the Roman god Janus, portrayed with two faces, one looking back and one looking forward, to emphasize the importance of looking at the events of the past to gain an understanding of the present and future.

The face of Janus also appeared on the cover of Looking Back, Looking Forward, a collection of 98 of the Edmonton Senior columns, published in 2003. Once the book was published, he and Vera, his wife of more than 60 years, promoted and sold it themselves.

Affected by worsening health, Broten wrote his last column in early 2009. A couple of years later Vera passed away.

On February 14, 2004, a couple of hundred people attended a party to celebrate his 90^th birthday at the Calder Seniors Drop-in Centre, where he had been president.

As reported in the Edmonton Senior, Broten told those in attendance, “I do know that if I am here for a purpose it has to be to contribute to this life and that’s what I have tried to do. If there is any purpose it has to be to make a better life for all of us.”

AUPE Cochrane rally to target senior care cuts

The Alberta Union of Public Employees (AUPE) is holding a rally Saturday, May 4, with the aim of drawhing attention to "debilitating" cuts to seniors care funding in the province.
The rally will take place at Bethany Care Society's Cochrane centre, 302 Quigley Drive, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
"Bethany Care Society is only one of the providers that has been forced to reduce staffing – both in terms of hours and actual employees – because of the cuts to seniors care funding in Alberta," said AUPE vice-president Susan Slade.
"In a province with an economy that's the envy of most of North America, it's baffling that our seniors, who have worked all their lives to make Alberta the success it is now, are bearing the brunt of this government's poor decision making."
According to the AUPE, funding reductions to seniors care providers like Bethany are a result of Alberta Health Services' new "Patient Care-Based Funding" model, said to be reducing patient care levels in non-profit and publicly operated seniors care facilities throughout the province.
"AHS says they are just reducing money to overfunded seniors homes, but despite what AHS says, our seniors care system is not overfunded," said Slade. "In fact, I think most people who have experienced the system would say that it is underfunded."
The union states that Bethany Care Society has encouraged families to hold their local MLAs accountable for the funding cuts and it is encouraging its members to do the same.

Myth-busting seniors receive SAGE Awards

Seniors whose achievements and contributions to Edmonton are outstanding were presented with SAGE Awards at the city-wide organization's seventh annual luncheon May 1.
"Today we celebrate the achievements of a remarkable group of seniors, seniors who on a daily basis challenge the prevailing myths about the role of seniors in our youth-oriented society," said SAGE president Bauni Mackay.
The awards for Edmontonians aged 60 and older were presented in 10 categories, including a new category, Transportation. This year's recipients, in order of presentation, are:  Dr. Earle H. Waugh, Arts & Culture; Bruce Hogle, Community Building; Dr. Albert Cook, Education; Dr. Richard B. Stein, Health & Wellness; Jean Innes, Public & Non-Profit; Maurice White, Public & Non-Profit; Len Shrimpton, Science & Technology; Terry Lusty, Social Justice & Peace; Sukhdarshan S. Pannu, Sport & Leisure; and Doreen Armstrong, Transportation.
"The recipients of the Sage Awards and the nominees for each of these awards demonstrate unequivocally the contributions of older adults to making life better for people of all ages, not only in our city and province, but also in the world at large," stated Mackay.
Also recognized at the luncheon were the other 23 award nominees. 
Honorary chair of the 2013 Sage Awards was well-known Edmonton writer Todd Babiak, director of Story Engine.
"The Sage Award nominees...did  not stop contributing on their 60th birthdays," Babiak stated. "They're creators and mentors, inventors, volunteers, moguls.
"In Edmonton, we are what we make. It's our city's identity and Sage Award nominees are a moving evocation of why we all chose to live here."