Approximately 82,000 AUPE members will begin a new round of collective bargaining in 2024.
To help all of us prepare for negotiations, members are participating in several bargaining conferences this fall.
Five bargaining conferences have been scheduled, each for a different sector within the union. Bargaining conferences like these are where negotiating team members discuss high-level strategy and sector-specific factors that influence negotiations.
Four of the five conferences are already complete, including:
- Government of Alberta conference – Sept. 13
- Boards, Agencies, and Municipalities conference – Sept. 14
- Public Health Care conference – Sept. 19
- Private Health Care conference – Sept. 21
The final bargaining conference, for all Education sector negotiating teams, is scheduled for November 7 in Calgary.
Bargaining conferences are not just about the basics of bargaining, they are also an opportunity to inspire each other and forge new bonds of solidarity. Negotiating team members who have attended a conference report feeling energized, confident, and ready to tackle bargaining together. AUPE President Guy Smith echoes their feelings.
“We, as AUPE members, must work together to be successful in the next round of bargaining,” he says. “That is the point of emphasis throughout all the bargaining conferences. We must use our solidarity and create a collective approach to negotiations in order to secure the improved wages, benefits, and working conditions we deserve.”
Now that the Government of Alberta and AHS bargaining conferences are complete, these members will soon receive their bargaining surveys by email. Bargaining surveys help negotiating teams focus on the issues that matter most to members, making them a critical part of the process.
Surveys for members working for other employers will launch soon as well, once they have been reviewed and approved by the negotiating teams.
AUPE needs your current personal email address in order for you to receive your bargaining survey. If you have not already, please create your MyAUPE account to ensure AUPE has your up-to-date contact information.
Successful bargaining does not boil down to the efforts of AUPE staff or a handful of activists—it takes all of us. Your negotiating teams cannot do it alone; they will need support from each and every member to show our employers that we are serious about making significant gains at the bargaining table.
The work is not over. Let us continue to prepare for the largest—and perhaps most challenging—round of bargaining Alberta has ever seen.