Negotiating team recommends members vote to accept
After meeting with the employer on July 14, 15 and 29, we were able to reach a tentative agreement that your negotiating team recommends you accept. Full details of the agreement, which will be in effect from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2024, will be sent to you shortly, along with information regarding in-person ratification votes which will likely be held in mid-September. In the meantime, here are the highlights:
The agreement contains several improvements, including the ability to carry forward a portion of unused vacation to the next vacation year, the ability to take Personal Leave Days in half or full- day increments, and better language around discipline and dismissal. An article enabling members donating organs or bone marrow to take time off without pay was negotiated, as was a Letter of Understanding establishing a Rural Capacity Investment Fund and a joint Employer-Union Committee to address issues of recruitment and retention.
Monetary improvements are as follows:
Wage increases
Effective April 1, 2020 Salary Grids shall be increased by Zero percent (0%).
Effective October 1, 2021 Salary Grids shall be increased by One percent (1%).*
Effective September 1, 2022 Salary Grids shall be increased by One Point Two Five percent (1.25%).
Effective April 1, 2023 Salary Grids shall be increased by Two percent (2%).
* this retroactive pay covering the period October 1, 2021 to the date of ratification will be paid in a lump sum following ratification.
Lump Sum Payment
Each Employee shall be issued a one-time premium payment of 1.0% of the Basic Rate of Pay for all hours actually worked between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2021, on the pay period following ratification.
For the purposes of this one-time lump sum payment “regular hours actually worked” includes:
(a) Leaves of absence for Union business;
(b) Other leaves of absence of one (1) month or less;
(c) Time on sick leave with pay;
(d) Absences while receiving Workers’ Compensation;
(e) Educational leave up to 24 months; and
(f) Maternity, Parental, Compassionate/Terminal Care, parents of Critically Ill Child and Death or Disappearance of Child Leaves.
IMPORTANT: As set out in Article 1.04 of your collective agreement, any employee whose employment has terminated prior to the ratification of this Collective Agreement is eligible to receive retroactively any increase in wages, which the Employee would have received but for the termination of employment, upon submission of a written application to the Employer during the period between the expiry date of the preceding Collective Agreement and sixty (60) calendar days after the ratification of this Collective Agreement.
Long Service Pay Adjustment
Effective April 1, 2023, an Employee who has twenty (20) or more calendar years of service with the Employer, shall receive a 2% Long Service Pay Adjustment (LSPA). This shall form part of the Employee’s Basic Rate of Pay.
Benefit Improvements
The per-visit and 20 visit per year maximums for Chartered Psychologist/Master of Social Work/Addictions Counsellor coverage shall be eliminated, replaced with a combined maximum of $3000.00 per participant per benefit year.
There shall be no requirement for a written physician’s order for accessing compression stockings. A tiered fee guide for compression stockings shall be implemented with reimbursement at the following rates (or the Alberta Blue Cross Usual and Customary rates, whichever is greater):
- compression stockings with a pressure gradient of less than 20 mmHg will be reimbursed to a maximum of $68.75/pair;
- compression stockings with a pressure gradient between 20-29.99 mmHg will be reimbursed to a maximum of $218.75/pair; and
- compression stockings with a pressure gradient greater than 30 mmHg will be reimbursed to a maximum of $250.00/pair.
While this round of bargaining has been difficult, the support and solidarity that we have received from members has been integral to getting us to this point. Thank you.
If you have co-workers who do not receive these updates, please encourage them to make sure we have their contact information at aupe.org/update-info so that they can receive important information directly in a timely manner.
Watch your e-mail for a detailed breakdown of the tentative agreement, as well as information regarding the ratification vote process.
In solidarity,
AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM – COVENANT HEALTH NURSING CARE
Local 040
Kathy Bandmann kbandmann@hotmail.com
Beverley Hill bhill3095@gmail.com
Local 046
Mary Watson maynayvatson@hotmail.com
Laura Johnstone johnstone_laura@hotmail.com
AUPE RESOURCE STAFF
Chris Dickson Negotiations
c.dickson@aupe.org
Scott Drake Organizing
s.drake@aupe.org
Christine Yargeau-Becker Organizing
c.yargeau-becker@aupe.org
Mimi Williams Communications
m.williams@aupe.org