Public health inspectors stay with Alberta Health Services
Premier Smith reverses plan to move 300 health inspectors to government ministry, keeping them under Alberta Health Services to preserve union agreements and benefits.
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Alberta's 300 public health inspectors will remain employees of Alberta Health Services instead of transferring to the government as direct employees, Premier Danielle Smith announced Saturday.
Smith reversed a decision made last year to move inspectors from AHS to the health ministry. The change came after unions raised concerns that the transfer would force workers to switch from the Health Services Association of Alberta to the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, disrupting their collective agreements and compensation.
Instead, inspectors will transfer to Primary Care Alberta, a separate agency that preserves their current union membership, seniority, and pay levels. Some rural inspectors had expressed fears they would have to relocate as part of the original plan.
HSAA President Leanne Alfaro said the union is "cautiously optimistic" about the reversal. "We're happy to hear it ... that we have been listened to and our members spoke up and we're listened to as frontline health-care professionals in public health," Alfaro said. She flagged that inspectors want clarity on when the change becomes official.
