Date: 2005, 2010
Location: Edmonton
Profile: Trudy Richardson was a feminist and global social justice activist whose support of early United Nurses’ strikers preceded a UNA career. In 1984, she joined UNA staff as a labour relations officer. In 1990 she became education director, making teaching new nurses the history of the union struggles of their predecessors her priority. Richardson worked with the Learners Centre, the ecumenical Ten Days for World Development, and as staff supervisor at Boyle Street Co-Op before joining UNA staff. During that period she had walked UNA’s picket lines in 1977, 1980, and 1982. In 1980 and 1982, she played the key role in mobilizing non-nursing UNA supporters to join mega-rallies demonstrating public support of the nurses’ cause. In her 2005 interview, she describes the paradox of the 1988 strike: the nurses had threatened to strike over a minor issue that would not likely have led to a strike except that the Labour Board forbid them from voting on whether to strike. Defence of their democratic rights to vote and strike became the strike issue. In her 2010 interview Richardson describes her long years of participation in Friends of Medicare and its campaigns against extra-billing, service privatization, and deprofessionalization of healthcare work.
Keywords: Alberta Labour Relations Board; Andy Sims; Boyle Street Co-op; Director of education in a union; Labour relations officer; Privatization of healthcare; Rallies to support striking nurses; Right to strike; Ten Days for World Development; UNA strikes 1977, 1980, 1982, 1988.
Transcripts: Download PDF: 2005 2010
See also: Friends of Medicare; United Nurses of Alberta; Women and Work in Alberta