Nurse Practitioners Association of Alberta Union
Update
September 3, 2021
Greetings fellow Nurse Practitioners,
Here is a brief update to address the following topics:
UNA petition
Further to our previous update, we have heard from many NPs who have been receiving emails from UNA urging them to sign a petition to show support for UNA’s application to be certified as bargaining agent. At the time of our previous update, we had not yet reviewed a copy of that petition, so we were unable to confirm its origin, purpose, or content at that time, although our understanding was that the petition in question was from UNA. We have now reviewed a copy of the petition, which is clearly from UNA and for the purpose of canvassing support for UNA’s application to be certified as bargaining agent.
On Friday, September 10, 2021, NPAAU will be emailing out our own petitions to NPs at AHS and Covenant Health, so please watch for one in your inbox and kindly reply as soon as you receive it. For more details, please see our timeline update sent on August 30, 2021.
UNA emails
Many NPs have also expressed concerns because they are now receiving emails from UNA (sometimes daily) without their prior knowledge, without having given their email addresses to UNA, and without having given their consent to receive such emails from UNA. We understand that UNA is running an aggressive campaign to obtain NPs’ personal contact information and to obtain their consent to use and share that personal contact information. Although we are not aware of any privacy law breaches at this time, we will continue to closely monitor the situation.
Just as you have the right to choose who you want to represent you as your bargaining agent, you also have the right to choose whether or not you will consent to allow NPAAU, UNA, or any other organization to collect, use, and share your personal information (which can include your email address). Trade unions and other organizations generally cannot collect, use, or share your personal information without your consent. If an organization has collected your personal information without your consent, they must tell you their intended purpose for collecting personal information and they must give you a reasonable opportunity to decline or object to having your personal information collected, used, and shared.
If you have received an email from UNA and if you do not want UNA to collect, use, or share your personal information, you can reply to UNA that you wish to be removed from their mailing list and that you object to UNA collecting, using, or sharing your personal information.
Special NPAAU Board meeting
Our next important event is our special NPAAU Board meeting on Thursday, September 9, 2021. At that meeting, the Board will be voting on the proposed amendments to the Constitution, including the new name for our union, which were sent August 6, 2021 along with the notice of the meeting.
We encourage all NPAAU members to attend the special Board meeting and to provide your feedback to the Board. If you haven’t already, please take this opportunity to review our proposed amended Constitution, to review our timeline update, and make arrangements to attend the special meeting on September 9, 2021.
Once the new name of the union has been confirmed, a new logo and branding will immediately follow, and we will begin the next phase of reaching out to NPs and sending out our petitions to confirm support for our upcoming certification applications for AHS and Covenant Health.
Once again, on behalf of the NPAAU Board and the Alberta Counsel team, thank you for your ongoing participation and support! As always, please reach out to either myself or Anne with any questions or concerns and we will be happy to speak with you.
Kind Regards,
Mary-Elizabeth Cooper NP
President
Nurse Practitioner Union.