In a historic show of near-unanimous exhaustion, the union representing 16,000 Alberta nurses and health care aides voted 98 per cent in favor of striking this week – a number experts say is only that low because two per cent were still on double shifts and couldn’t find the “vote” button.
Union leaders said the strike isn’t about money, but about “the right to collapse gracefully,” while the provincial government urged nurses to show “resilience,” citing the popular slogan: “We support our heroes – as long as they don’t ask for anything.”
Health officials have already begun preparing contingency plans, including replacing nurses with inspirational posters and volunteers who “watched a lot of Grey’s Anatomy.”
When asked for comment, one ICU nurse simply muttered, “Code blue… for capitalism,” before returning to a 16-hour night shift that began in 2019.
