On this day in Labor History the year was 1995.
That was the day that healthcare workers in Calgary, Alberta, Canada walked off the job in a wildcat strike.
Budget cuts in Alberta, under the leadership of Premier Ralph Klein, had hit healthcare particularly hard.
A massive restructuring plan called for deep cuts, privatization, and reducing services.
As part of this trend, the Calgary Regional Health Authority had decided to contract out the work of 120 laundry personnel.
The workers were members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 8.
The laundry workers walked off the job in protest.
Soon they were joined in solidarity on the picket line by housekeepers, orderlies, nurses and other hospital workers.
Eight hospitals across the city were impacted by the walk out.
Community members joined in and marched on the picket lines, frustrated by the government cuts.
Twice the Labour Relations Board ordered the workers to go back to their jobs.
Twice the workers refused.
The strike spread to Calgary, where more than 2,500 healthcare workers walked off the job.
In Edmonton, workers stood ready to strike.
Talk of general strike began circulating.
In Calgary the union met with management for a nineteen-hour marathon bargaining session and the ten-day strike ended.
The Health Authority agreed to wait eight months before contracting out any labor.
Workers were given severance packages.
And the government stopped any further cuts to the industry.
But the settlement did little to appease the dissatisfaction of the health care workers.
The strike had also shown the potential connections between workers’ issues on the jobs and concerns of community members.
The cutbacks hurt both labor and the general public, and brought them together to stand in solidarity.
May 4 - UE Beats Back HUAC in Dayton
May 3 - First Workers Compensation Law is Passed
May 2 - Our Thing is DRUM!
May 1 - Mayday Marchers Attacked in Cleveland
April 30 - Refinery Workers Walk Off the Job
April 29 - Allis-Chalmers and the Road to Taft-Hartley
April 28 - OSHA Goes Into Effect
April 27 - Disaster in West Virginia
April 26 - National Guard Ousts Montgomery Ward CEO
April 25 - UAW Mobilizes Against Taft-Hartley
April 24 - The California Spinach Riot
April 23 - Sitting Down for Dignity at Ford
April 22 - The Red Jacket Mine Explosion
April 21 - The Hated Taylor Law Takes Effect
April 20 - Deepwater Horizon Explosion Kills 11
April 19 -The Daughters of Mother Jones
April 18 - We Have Fed You All A thousand Years
April 17 - Fatal Explosion in West, Texas
April 16 - Jacob Coxey is Born
April 15 - Telephone Girls Cripple New England Bell
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
The No-Frills Teacher Podcast
Heal, Survive & Thrive!
Summarize | رادیو سامرایز
The Jordan B. Peterson Podcast
The Mel Robbins Podcast