Your negotiating team met with the employer on September 22 and 23 to continue bargaining.
Your team feels we made decent progress at the table. AHS even surprised us with a new set of proposals, including taking back the –4% wage cuts they asked us to take in July.
However, AHS is still not proposing any meaningful job security. The 11,000 front line jobs would still be on the chopping block, and AHS would be able to contract out even more of us if they wanted. Their proposed cuts to shift differentials and weekend premiums, and removal of double time for work on Christmas and the August civic holiday are also still on the table—as well as further unnamed monetary reductions.
As a result, we told AHS that their new proposals aren’t good enough.
AHS’s major proposals
AHS is now proposing a 5-year collective agreement.
They are proposing three years of wage freezes, followed by 1% and 1% in the fourth and fifth years. While that is certainly an improvement over a –4% wage cut, the proposed cuts to our shift differentials and weekend premiums remain unchanged and are too large for your team to even consider.
Cuts to shift differentials and premiums look like this:
- Evening shift differential: AHS wants to cut the premium from $2.75 to $1.95 per hour and want the differential period to start at 1900 hours instead of 1500 hours.
- Night shift differential: AHS wants to cut from $5.00 to $2.78 per hour. AHS does not want to pay this premium for all our hours when most of our shift takes place between 2300 hours and 0700 hours. Instead, they want to pay the premium only for the hours we actually work during that period, and only if there are two or more hours.
- Weekend premiums: AHS wants to cut from $3.25 to $2.11 per hour, and they want to change the weekend premium period to start at 0001 hours on Saturday instead of 1500 hours on Friday.
The weak “job security” AHS is proposing would also only cover the first three years of the agreement, not the last two—not including those that are already on the chopping block. That is something your team would not agree to, even if the first three years of job security were strong.
Other provinces are doing better
The governments and health authorities in other provinces are figuring out that they need to treat health care staff better.
British Columbia is bringing hospital retail food services back in-house, the opposite of what AHS is doing, which is trying to contract us out!
In Quebec, the province is spending $1 Billion on bonuses for front-line health care workers to stop their staffing crisis.
AHS and the Kenney government are going to have to do just as good, if not better, if they want to save our health care system and win back Albertans’ trust.
What we accomplished
Although AHS is still proposing the above cuts, we did make some good progress when negotiating other matters.
We made a small but important change to Article 8, which makes the future agreement inclusive of Lamont Health Care Centre’s unique structure. We are also reviewing proposed changes to Article 9, Investigations, which still needs more back and forth with the employer.
Truth and Reconciliation Day
Shamefully, however, AHS is not recognizing the newly created federal holiday, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. AHS CEO Dr. Verna Yiu says recognizing new statutory holidays is not in our collective agreement, but the agreement says otherwise (Article 27, Named Holidays).
We understand how important Truth and Reconciliation is, and how much a day for rest and reflection would mean for us and our collective effort to decolonize our workplaces and communities.
AUPE has filed a policy grievance with AHS in hopes they recognize the holiday. We believe they must recognize the day as per our collective agreement. The language in our agreement was negotiated in good faith, but AHS is trying to squirm out of it and make up excuses. Your team’s disappointment with AHS on this issue is immeasurable.
If you can, please wear an orange shirt on September 30 in solidarity with Indigenous peoples and to show your support for Truth and Reconciliation.
As always, please contact a member of your Negotiating Team or AUPE Resource Staff if you have any questions.
AHS GSS Negotiating Team
Local 054
Julie Woodford - juliew.chp006@gmail.com
Charity Hill (A) - charity.johanson@gmail.com
Local 056
Tammy Lanktree – local56.bargaining@gmail.com
Percy Ogden (A) – percydogden@gmail.com
Local 057
Darren Graham - chairlocal057@aupe.ca
Wendy Kicia (A) - wendykicia@hotmail.com
Local 058
Anton Schindler - waterdude69@gmail.com
Dave Ibach (A) - d1322j@gmail.com
Local 095
Dusan Milutinovic - dusan.aupe@yahoo.com
Lamont Health Care Centre GSS
Jessica Kroeker - jessicarayne@hotmail.com
Carol Palichuk - carolpalichuk@hotmail.com
AUPE Resource Staff for AHS GSS
Chris Dickson, Lead Negotiator - c.dickson@aupe.org
Jason Rattray, Negotiator - j.rattray@aupe.org
Tracy Noble, Edmonton-North Organizer – t.noble@aupe.org
Kate Jacobson, Calgary-South Organizer - k.jacobson@aupe.org
Margaret Kapuwa, Central Organizer – m.kapuwa@aupe.org
Alexander Delorme, Communications - a.delorme@aupe.org