November 12 - Striking Against Privatization

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.