Bargaining begins
On March 4 and 5, your bargaining team met with the employer to begin negotiations for our first collective agreement. Not surprisingly Covenant Care tried to under-bargain with us.
You made clear what you need to take care of yourselves, your communities and the residents we support daily in your bargaining surveys, which we reviewed to develop protections that would address your priority concerns.
The resulting ingoing proposals we brought to the table are very similar to the contract language won at Foyer Lacombe’s sister site, Chateau Vitaline, and other continuing care homes in Alberta.
In contrast, the employer proposed language modelled off of the St. Marguerite contract, which would fail to meet your needs.
Optimal language for a health spending Account, wage increases, shift differential/weekend premiums, employment security, application of seniority (specifically in filling vacancies), and improvements to health benefits and insurance plans: these are the needs you’ve identified and these are what we’re going to keep fighting for. We’ve made this clear to Covenant Health
Over the two days, we also signed off on ten non-monetary articles:
- Purpose & Preamble
- Management Rights
- Bulletin Board Space
- Occupational Health & Safety Committee
- Copies of the Collective Agreement
- Grievance Procedure
- Employee-Management Committee
- Resignation/Termination of Employment
- Union Stewards
- Lockers
Thank you for taking the time to fill out your surveys and putting the collective wellbeing of all staff and residents first. We’re here to improve our working conditions, so we can continue to raise the bar in continuing care and build capacity for all Alberta health-care workers to maintain this momentum.
Right now, more than ever, the value of the work you do, keeping Albertans healthy, is being highlighted. We’ve always deserved optimal care and optimal workplaces, and we’ll emphasize this to the employer.
If you have any questions or ideas, please contact us and continue to stay informed. Bargaining is scheduled to continue June 8 and 9.
Foyer Lacombe ANC & GSS bargaining team
Laurel Morrill laurelmorrill@icloud.com or 780-237-1573(c)
Finuela Barnachea cherubpong@yahoo.ca or 780-566-1297(c)
Ravinder Sodhi sodhimail@yahoo.com or 780-695-9176(c)
ALTERNATIVES
Nancy Alexander snalexander04@yahoo.ca or 780-974-9608(c)
Elizabeth Nichols nicholre@shaw.ca or 780-218-4348(c)
AUPE RESOURCE STAFF
Christian Tetreault, Negotiator c.tetreault@aupe.org
Dave Malka, Organizer d.malka@aupe.org or 780-231-1800
Celia Shea, Communications c.shea@aupe.org or 780-720-8122