ADWA

Alberta Disability Workers Association

E-Bulletin
For February 11th, 2013

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ADWA meets with The Hon. Frank Oberle Associate Minister of Services for Persons with Disabilities & MLA for Peace River On January 16, two ADWA Board members met with Minister Oberle to discuss our Associations concerns. The concerns we discussed fell mainly into three areas: 1. Wages In the last three decades wages for disability support workers have steadily decreased when compared to the cost of living in Alberta. In todays Alberta workforce, skilled labour typically starts at $24.00 per hour. In the disability sector, most frontline jobs start at less than $15.00 per hour. Workers cannot afford to invest in post-secondary education in disability studies for such a poor return on their investment, resulting in the closure of many of these educational programs. Agencies and families have difficulty keeping trained and experienced employees with such low wages. The Government of Alberta itself has set the standards for reasonable wages by being a direct service provider. We need a major commitment towards improving community workers wages in order to best support those with developmental disabilities in reaching their goals and in living quality, fulfilling lives. 2. Certification A number of years ago the Alberta Council of Disability Services (ACDS) developed a classification system which outlined the components of a variety of jobs in disability services. The logical next stage of this process is to have individual workers post-secondary education, other training, demonstrated skills and knowledge measured against standards set by the industry. ADWA members identified certification as one of our main areas of concern. As a professional association, ADWA is the logical home for the certification of disability workers. We are working closely with ACDS and post-secondary institutions to create a certification process which we will put into practice. For workers, certification will provide a professional identity, a clear career path, recognition within the sector and portability of labour across regions, as well as recognition of academic credentials and informal learning. Certification will also benefit employers and government funders of services by identifying standard competencies of employees. As well, post-secondary institutions will be provided with a clear direction for curriculum development and student preparation. 3. Safety Everyone wants to be safe in her or his workplace. Currently, Disability Support Workers are considered by Occupational Health and Safety (OH&S) to be working in one of Albertas most dangerous jobs. More government regulations are not the only answer to this problem. Qualified,

skilled and trained workers in all of our workplaces are the key to workplace safety. Career wages for workers are the first step to attracting and keeping qualified and trained workers and creating safe environments for everyone. Summary of discussion We discussed the above points with the Associate Minister in detail. He was well aware that both the two previous Ministers and the Premier have made commitments to improving the wages in our sector. He also indicated an awareness of the specific promises to our field of 5%, 15% and 10% over three years. We confirmed that our workers are expecting a 15% wage increase in this budget. We also confirmed that we know this money was set aside in the previous year. That being said, the government is facing a difficult budget challenge and there will be pressures for all areas of government to tighten their belts. Heres where you come in! We all need to be a part of ensuring that we get the raise we were promised. Every MLA in this province needs to understand that this promised raise was not an annual increase we may have to go without in a tight budget year, just like everyone else. This money was to begin the process of fixing a problem that has been growing since the late 1980sthe gradual falling behind of community support worker wages to a point that has left our field in the dangerous position of being unable to attract and keep trained and skilled workers, and/or burning out the skilled workers we have been able to keep. We have not had the annual increases that government workers in our field have received or the financial structural fixes that other fields with insufficient funding have experienced. If we dont do something soon to create liveable wages, our field will be in a bigger crisis! When Associate Minister Oberle is defending the need for budget changes to cover wage increases, we want every MLA to whom he is speaking, to already know of these issues because they have spoken with you! You dont have to be an expert on all of the details and the numbers. Tell your MLA about your own experience of trying to live on low wages in Alberta communities with a high, and growing, cost of living. For those of you who are working longer hours to be able to meet your expenses, talk about how that affects your life, the members of your family and health & safety in your workplace. We know the government is very concerned about health and safety issues, so we are hoping they will hear your concerns. If you need to find your MLA, please go to http://www.assembly.ab.ca/lao/mla/mla_help.htm and follow the instructions. If we can be of any help to you, please ask. We are counting on our membership to help all elected officials to understand how important this issue is to us, to people with disabilities and their families and ultimately, to all Albertans. Please pass this information to peers who may not be ADWA members as it will take all of us working together to make sure the government follows through on their promises! ADWA Board Mission:
To build a valued workforce, promoting the well-being and potential of all Albertans
E-Mail: Phone: Fax: Mail: Web: disabilityworkers@gmail.com 780-646-6143 780.645.1885 4637-45 Ave. St. Paul, Alberta T0A-3A3 www.albertadisabilityworkers.org