'Paying for the job': Health workers protest rising staff parking costs

A new petition is calling for all health and hospital workers in Alberta to be exempt from parking regulations at health facilities.

This comes after a recent increase in the cost of employee parking has upset hundreds of Alberta Health Services (AHS) employees.

“Now we're paying $15 a day to work, which is ridiculous to me,” petitioner Nicola Mulder said. “And most of us here are not happy about it.”

Mulder works as a nurse at Foothills Medical Center.

He said many of his colleagues were upset by the bump, which was up about 3.3 percent.

They think they don't need to pay anything for parking because they work to save lives.

For many people like Mulder, transportation alternatives like transit aren't always an option with unusual shift hours.

“Many of us are nurses or other workers, we have to go to a 16-hour shift or get a residence permit, and then we completely forget about parking,” she told CTV News. “So we pay $15 and get a ticket, and that's not good.”

Mulder believes that patients should not be forced to pay either. His union president agrees.

“Healthcare shouldn't be about making money off your clients or your employees,” said AUPE's Bonnie Gostola. “We don't have to do business.”

BUSINESS SOLUTION: AHS

According to the Minister of Health, this decision is entirely based on business.

“Inflation affects Alberta's health services as well as making sure they can maintain those parks and build new ones if needed,” said Adriana Lagrange.

An internal staff memo states that “the increase is necessary to ensure the safety and long-term sustainability of AHS parking facilities,” which are necessary to become financially self-sustaining.

But Mulder believes that at $15 a car, the often-filled lots attract enough money.

He calls it a cash grab — an issue his union says could come up in the next round of contract negotiations.

But change seems impossible without risk. In fact, AHS has promised to review parking rates every year to ensure they are “relevant to local markets”.

It says that corrections will be made “as necessary.”