![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/1793357291_946_indicator-big.gif\")
<\/p>\nHe said they\u2019ve been without a new contract since it expired in 2024 and were hopeful for a resolution, but it hasn\u2019t happened yet.<\/p>\n
\t<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully this is as far as we have to go, but they\u2019re willing to go the distance if they need to,\u201d Graham said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBargaining is ongoing; it\u2019s just going very slowly\u2026 They were waiting for their funding from the government was the last excuse. They\u2019ve got that funding now, and we\u2019re not seeing that come to fruition at the negotiating table. We are very hopeful they\u2019ll bring something forward, but these folks are showing they\u2019re willing to take a stand and if necessary, take those other steps as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
He said Covenant Care has been unwilling to match the AHS rates that were achieved in the last round of bargaining with Alberta Health Services, even though the government funding has come through for providers like Covenant Care and other providers in the province to provide similar wages to their nursing staff, health care aides, etc.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese folks are getting very frustrated at the negotiating table. They don\u2019t get the same benefits as other folks do that also work in healthcare, so that\u2019s another sticking point with them,\u201d he added. \u201cTheir colleagues in Covenant Health, for example, have access to benefits and a pension that these folks don\u2019t have access to because they\u2019re considered Covenant Care.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rallies have been held at other Covenant Care sites as well, including in Calgary on Wednesday and in Olds on Tuesday.<\/p>\n
He said the employees in Red Deer feel like they\u2019ve been left behind and are still looking for wage increases to offset inflation. He said if they do receive better wages and benefits, they hope to attract more people to the profession.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese folks work short every single day, and that is a real concern when it comes to care of the residents who count on them every day,\u201d Graham said. \u201cPeople burn out and get sick because they\u2019re working so hard. We\u2019ve seen it in other jurisdictions: if you pay a decent wage, then you get people who want to come and work.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the Covenant Care website, Villa Marie has 76 supportive living suites, 30 memory care suites, and 60 long-term care suites.<\/p>\n
Graham said more and more residents who come to the facilities require greater care. He said it\u2019s part of the aging population, and some require advanced care, such as patients with dementia and other conditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen you\u2019re working a night shift, and you don\u2019t have enough people on staff to do a lift on a person, unfortunately they don\u2019t get the care that they need either,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of safety concerns in continuing care.\u201d<\/p>\n
When asked how close employees may be to striking, Graham said that will be up to the bargaining committee.<\/p>\n
He said they still do have essential service agreements, so if they do strike, the residents will be taken care of.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs you can tell, these folks are sticking together, and if necessary, that\u2019s what we\u2019ll do,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
rdnewsNOW reached out to Covenant Care for comment but did not receive a response before publishing. If and when they do provide comment, it will be added to the story.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"He said they\u2019ve been without a new contract since it expired in 2024 and were hopeful for a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":951802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[49,48,84,392],"class_list":["post-951801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-healthcare","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-health","tag-healthcare"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=951801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/951801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/951802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=951801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=951801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=951801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}