Structure of AUPE

Locals and Chapters

There are three types of Locals, which range in size from a dozen to thousands of workers:

1. Locals in the General Service of the Alberta government. These locals are made up of a large number of workers in a “community of interest.” For example, all members of Local 001 are government clerical workers.
2. Locals containing only a single bargaining unit. For example, Local 039 represents all members who work for the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology in Calgary.
3. Locals that represent a large number of employees doing similar work at different job sites, often with several collective agreements. For example, Local 047 represents private seniors care workers at a variety of worksites across northern Alberta.

The largest Locals are divided into chapters, to represent members at individual job sites. Each Local and Chapter has a democratically elected executive.

Area Councils

Area councils are set up geographically to serve the social and general welfare needs of AUPE members. They are financed by the union and organize events like curling bonspiels, Christmas parties, picnics and other social activities.

Convention

AUPE’s ultimate governing body is the union’s annual Convention.

Each local is entitled to send one delegate for every 100 members to Convention, normally held in Edmonton. Convention is where policies are established, budget and operating procedures determined, and officers elected by a vote of the delegates present.

Executive Committee

During Conventions held in odd-numbered years, an Executive Committee is elected, made up of eight officers: the President, the Executive Secretary-Treasurer and six Vice-Presidents. The President and Executive Secretary-Treasurer serve as full-time officers of the union, while the Vice-Presidents commit as much time as necessary to their positions.

The role of the President is to supervise the affairs of the union, act as chief spokesperson, and assign duties and responsibilities to other executive officers and union staff.

The Executive Secretary-Treasurer is the full-time chief financial officer of the union, responsible for all AUPE’s financial and accounting records.

The Vice-Presidents are each assigned a region of Alberta and work to engage with the membership in that region.

The Executive Committee works as a team to support and help mobilize and engage members, chapters, locals, and area councils across the province.

The Executive Committee makes high-level decisions affecting the operation and well-being of the union on an ongoing basis, reports to the Provincial Executive and Convention, and chairs the Standing Committees.

Contact information and biographies of AUPE’s current Executive can be found here.

Provincial Executive

The Provincial Executive — made up of the Executive Committee and one elected member from each local — is the governing body of AUPE between Conventions.

The Provincial Executive meets several times a year to conduct the business of the union.

Standing Committees

AUPE has thirteen (13) permanent committees, established by the union’s constitution, to advise the Provincial Executive.