Kelly Spence

My Story

From frontline healthcare worker to President of one of Alberta's largest healthcare locals.

Kelly Spence is a healthcare worker, labour leader, advocate, educator, mother and activist who has spent approximately 25 years connected to healthcare and caring for vulnerable people.

Kelly began working in healthcare at approximately 21 years old. For 12 years, she worked as a Healthcare/Nursing Assistant before moving into Recreation Therapy, where she worked as a Recreation Therapy Assistant.

She knows what it means to work short. She knows what it means to care for residents while trying to meet impossible workloads. She knows what it means to work evenings, weekends and holidays.

That frontline experience continues to influence how she represents approximately 3,000 healthcare workers today.

~2017 Site Vice-President

~2019 General Vice-President

Sept 2023 President

How Kelly Became Involved

Kelly did not originally set out to become a union leader.

At her workplace, there had been very little union representation for several years. Without realizing it, Kelly had already begun taking on an advocacy role among her coworkers. She stood up for herself. She stood up for her friends. She questioned things that did not seem right.

Eventually, her coworkers approached her and encouraged her to become their Site Vice-President. Her first answer was:

"No thank you."

But her coworkers continued to encourage her because they already saw something in Kelly that she had not yet recognized in herself. Eventually, she agreed. That decision changed the direction of her life.

Experience & Results

Bargaining

Approximately 25 bargaining tables with a philosophy that a good agreement matters more than a fast agreement.

Land Acknowledgements negotiated into Collective Agreements
Employer-paid medical notes
RRSP provisions introduced and improved
Vision benefits including free eye examinations
Wage and classification improvements
Reclassification resulting in ~$12/hour increase for one position

Grievances & Representation

Extensive experience representing members through every stage of the grievance process.

100+ grievances filed in one year — a record workload
Currently ~33 open grievances despite size and complexity
Wrongful terminations overturned with full reinstatement
Lost wages recovered and members made whole
Workplace patterns of treatment addressed

Human Rights & Accommodation

Deliberately developed knowledge of human-rights legislation to better represent members.

Medical and disability-related accommodations
Return-to-work processes
Discrimination and duty-to-accommodate issues
Legal education to read and analyze labour arbitration decisions

Occupational Health & Safety

Taken and taught OH&S education. Pushed employers to develop short-staffing contingency plans.

Short-staffing contingency plans developed through Labour Management
OH&S conferences attended
Understanding that the Collective Agreement is only one source of workplace rights

Organizing & Growth

Local 8 grew from ~24 to ~25 bargaining units under Kelly's leadership.

Successfully organized a new bargaining unit in Olds
Helped with organizing at Calgary Board of Education
Successorship processes negotiated to protect union representation
Reorganized bargaining unit when complications arose

Essential Services

Extensive knowledge of Alberta's essential-services legislation and processes.

Understanding the legal framework governing healthcare workers' right to collective action
Building relationships throughout Alberta's labour movement
Ensuring healthcare workers are not isolated when they need support

Building Local 8

Kelly has modernized and strengthened CUPE Local 8 through expanded capacity, technology improvements and member engagement.

Expanded Officer Capacity

When Kelly became President, only the President and Treasurer were on full-time union book-off. She has since expanded to:

President — full-time book-off
Treasurer — full-time book-off
Recording Secretary — full-time book-off
General Vice-President — part-time book-off

Office & Technology

Secured a second office
Upgraded phones with confidential individual lines
Docking stations and multi-monitor workstations
Microsoft 365/Outlook role-based accounts
Improved digital communications and organization

Communication & Transparency

Kelly believes members should know what their union is doing. She provides detailed bargaining updates explaining where negotiations stand.

"It is the members' Collective Agreement. Members deserve to understand what is happening."

Member Engagement — BBQ Tour

One of Kelly's signature initiatives. With ~22 worksites across Southern Alberta, the summer BBQ tour brings union representatives directly to members' workplaces.

Members get to see their union. Representatives hear directly from members. And sometimes reluctant members open up when their President is standing beside them.

Executive Training Day

Established an annual mandatory in-person Executive training day each June, covering grievance handling, bargaining, representation skills and executive development.

Social Media & Video

Established Local 8's Facebook presence and manages it herself. Plans to introduce regular short-form video updates so members can hear directly from their President.

Beyond Local 8

Kelly believes healthcare workers need a strong voice beyond their individual workplaces.

CUPE Alberta Recording Secretary

Elected March 2025. A provincial elected position performed in addition to her Local 8 responsibilities.

AHEC Chair

Previously served as Co-Chair of the Alberta Health Care Employees Committee. Elected Chair on September 18, 2026.

APAC Liaison

Liaison to the Anti-Privatization and Political Action Committee for just under a year.

Indigenous Council

Served approximately three years as liaison to the Indigenous Council. Connected with Elders and shared her roots within the broader labour movement.

Provincial & National Advocacy

Speaking at rallies outside the Alberta Premier's office
Speaking at Friends of Medicare rallies
Organizing a healthcare support-worker rally at Calgary City Hall
Speaking at the Alberta Legislature during education-worker mobilization
Presenting at an All Committees meeting

Alberta Federation of Labour conventions
CUPE Alberta conventions
CUPE National Convention panel participant
Sector and OH&S conferences
Bargaining summits

Showing Up for Other Workers

When CUPE education workers went on strike, Kelly joined their picket lines. During one strike on St. Patrick's Day, she put on a green wig, loaded up a wagon, brought music and spent six hours dancing and walking the picket line. Eventually, students came outside during lunch and joined them.

"Sometimes leadership means negotiating legislation and Collective Agreement language. Sometimes it means showing up with a green wig because workers need to know somebody is standing beside them."

Building Leaders

Kelly does not believe leadership means doing everything yourself. A good leader builds a team.

The Treasurer

Once extremely uncomfortable speaking publicly. With encouragement and support, she began speaking at conventions and participating in debate. She later successfully sought a provincial Trustee position.

The Recording Secretary

A Site Vice-President who stepped forward to fill an Acting Recording Secretary vacancy. After significant encouragement, mentorship and hands-on learning, she developed in the position and is now seeking election to the role.

Young Workers

A former Local 8 Young Worker Vice-President whom Kelly encouraged went on to become involved with CUPE's National Young Workers Committee and eventually served in a leadership role there.

For Kelly, one of the measures of leadership is not simply what she accomplishes herself. It is whether other people become stronger leaders because she helped create the opportunity.

Why I Do This

Some of Kelly's proudest moments are not titles or elections.

A worker receives wages they should have been paid.

A member who was wrongfully terminated gets their job back.

Someone being bullied finally feels heard.

A workplace becomes safer.

A member receives an accommodation that allows them to keep working.

A bargaining committee achieves an improvement members were told they could never get.

A new steward suddenly understands their Collective Agreement.

A nervous executive member stands at a microphone at convention for the first time.

Those are the moments that remind Kelly why she does this work.

Leadership Philosophy

Education Transparency Communication Accountability Teamwork Accessibility Strong Representation Respectful Relationships Standing Firm Developing Future Leaders Showing Up Continuing to Learn

About Kelly

Kelly is the proud mother of three daughters. Her eldest became both a Red Seal hairstylist and licensed esthetician at a young age. Her middle daughter is pursuing her education at Mount Royal University with the goal of becoming an elementary school teacher. Her youngest daughter is 11 and, in Kelly's words, was the missing piece to the family puzzle.

Kelly also has a rescue dog named Zeus, a former street dog from Mexico who lives with severe separation anxiety and has an amputated tail.

Family is extremely important to Kelly. She comes from a large, close family and maintains strong relationships with cousins, nieces and nephews. She also credits her friends and extended support network with helping make everything she does possible.

"I call that network my village. And I never take that village for granted."

The Work Continues

If re-elected, Kelly wants the next term to continue building on the work already underway.

Meaningful Bargaining

Continue achieving meaningful improvements at bargaining tables rather than settling simply for the sake of reaching a deal.

Provincial Advocacy

Continue advocating for adequate healthcare funding, appropriate staffing and care hours.

Member Education

Expand member education so healthcare workers better understand their Collective Agreements, workplace rights and the connection between government policy and their working conditions.

Developing Leaders

Continue developing Site Vice-Presidents, stewards, executive members and future leaders.

Site Engagement

Continue the annual BBQ tour and increase opportunities for face-to-face site engagement.

Video Updates

Introduce short video updates so important information reaches members in the format many people now prefer.

Growth

Continue organizing non-union workplaces and growing Local 8.

Building Relationships

Continue building relationships with other unions and sectors across Alberta.