Greetings Fellow AUPE Members, I sincerely hope you had a good summer and managed to find some time to rest and relax with friends and family. However, I understand the constant pressure to deliver services to Albertans meant there was very little time to rest for many of you. Short staffing combined with economic uncertainties and Alberta’s political upheavals mean that we must all continue to work together to support each other.
That is why there has been such a diligent and massive union-wide focus on methodically moving us all together through our Strategic Plan. Every AUPE Local is working hard on refocusing and re-energizing to support members’ goals in the key areas of Workplace Power, Negotiations, External Relationships and Inclusion, Diversity and Equity. New strategies and tactics will create specific action to support these goals. I want to thank all the Local activists, leaders and members who have committed themselves to this important work. We all know that it will require your commitment and dedication to ensure we overcome recent and current challenges even stronger and prepared to confront the inevitable challenges ahead.
AUPE staff have, through their departments, also developed strategies and tactics to better deliver and co-ordinate support for members to achieve the goals of the Strategic Plan. The level to which all parts of the union, membership and staff operations are focused on systematically developing and implementing plans to achieve success is unprecedented.
We continued to work hard during the development of the Strategic Plan, supporting dozens of bargaining tables to confront employers, both large and small, to move away from forcing massive concessions on our members. One by one, collective agreements are being reached, often with the assistance of third-party mediation. These agreements do not contain rollbacks and instead, to varying degrees, provide improvements to wages, working conditions, benefits, and employment security. This is not only testament to the strength and diligence of our elected negotiating teams, as well as our staff who support them, but also the strength of the membership who, in many cases, were preparing for job action if required.
But we cannot let our guard down. AUPE is focused on an unprecedented level of rebuilding and re-energizing because we know that—no matter who is premier or which party forms government—we must constantly defend and support our members, as well as the services our members proudly provide for Albertans.