Health Sciences Association: Urgent Call for Local Unit Chairs

CALGARY, AB — The Health Sciences Association of Alberta is fishing for shop-floor leaders, launching a recruitment push today for Local Unit Chair roles—the union's eyes and ears inside Alberta's battered healthcare system.

The campaign, fronted by a Local Unit Chair named Mike, positions the volunteer gig as a chance to "support your coworkers, strengthen your workplace and help shape HSAA's future." Translation: HSAA needs bodies willing to navigate the friction between 30,000 allied health workers and a provincial government that President Mike Parker recently accused of "atrocious" under-staffing.

The Friction

This isn't a corporate team-building exercise. Local Unit Chairs are elected by members for up to three years under HSAA's constitution to do the unglamorous work of advocating for lab techs, respiratory therapists, and paramedics caught between patient loads and budget cuts. Right now, those workers are riding the high of a ratified four-year deal with Alberta Health Services—12% wage bumps over the contract's life—but the win came after members rejected an initial offer last September, with 59% voting no over staffing concerns and burnout.

The union is also deep in bargaining with Workers' Compensation Board, Good Samaritan Society, and Alberta Precision Laboratories, meaning Local Unit Chairs will be managing member expectations across multiple fronts while Premier Danielle Smith's government restructures AHS.

The Ask

HSAA's pitch is straightforward: step up, help your coworkers, shape the union. The practical reality is messier—Local Unit Chairs are the first call when a member gets sideways with management, when staffing ratios collapse, or when someone needs a witness at a disciplinary meeting. It's volunteer work with real teeth in a system Parker has publicly called out for under-reporting ambulance dispatches and bleeding workers to other careers.

The union is steering interested members to hsaa.ca/leadyourunion for details on open positions across Alberta. No timeline provided for elections, but the recruitment timing suggests HSAA is prepping its bench ahead of the next round of employer negotiations and whatever structural chaos AHS's overhaul brings next.

What's Next

Local Unit Chair roles are elected by members, not appointed—so the real test is whether frontline workers see the job as worth the hassle. HSAA hasn't disclosed how many positions are currently vacant or what turnover looks like post-ratification, but the public recruitment campaign signals the union needs fresh leadership at the local level. Elections roll on a staggered basis; interested members can check availability and nomination processes through the union's internal channels starting today.