Foyer Lacombe: Voting will occur on Nov. 5

We’re preparing to vote on our tentative agreement at Covenant Care Foyer Lacombe. Your bargaining committee is reaching out to all AUPE members on site and preparing members to make an important decision about our first collective agreement.

The vote on our collective agreement will take place, in person, on Nov. 5. If our worksite is classified as being under COVID-19 outbreak at that time, the vote will take place outside, so as to minimize unnecessary pandemic risk.

Voting on this question is extremely important—these are the working conditions that we have negotiated for nearly two years. We have a chance to democratically decide to accept them, or not. That power is only possible collectively, through our union and your vote on Nov. 5.

Negotiations team recommends you vote “yes”

As we covered in our last update, there are a number of important improvements in this proposed agreement, which your negotiations team fought hard for at the bargaining table, with your support on the ground.

If we adopt the tentative agreement, we will receive a 1.5-per-cent pay increase starting the first pay period after both parties ratify the contract, no matter your classification. There will be potential for a wage increase depending on what happens at the Alberta Health Services (AHS) table. Simply put, if they receive a wage increase in 2022, we will receive the exact same increase.

Here are some of the other improvements we could expect from this agreement, if we adopt it:

• Overtime rate of time and a half for the first two hours and double time after that, which is an improvement over the time and a half for all hours that we have now.
• We would gain the ability to bank up to 38 hours of overtime for use as time off at a future date.
• Increases to evening shift from $2.50 to $2.75, and night shift premiums from $4.00 to $4.50 effective Jan. 1, 2022.
• “Super-stat” on Christmas Day where hours worked are paid at double time, plus a day off.
• Personal Leave (two paid days; three unpaid days) for family responsibilities.
• Paid Bereavement Leave of three days for aunt, uncle, niece or nephew, which is an increase from the two days that we currently have.
• We would receive a meal allowance if we work three or more hours of overtime.
• Guaranteed four hours of work if employee agrees to stay and work.
• Call-back premium for maintenance workers for a minimum of four hours.
• Revised process for picking up extra shifts that aligns with the other Covenant Care agreements.
• Tiered layoff notice based on years of service.
• Letter of understanding (LOU) committing to a joint benefit review for all of the plans impacting Covenant Care employees covered by an AUPE agreement.
• LOU to review provisions impacted by the regulation of Health Care Aides.
• LOU regarding Outbreaks and Pandemic Management with paid leaves.
• Term of agreement ending December 31, 2022, consistent with the other Covenant Care – AUPE agreements.

With all of these improvements, your negotiations team is strongly encouraging you to vote YES on this agreement. We have shown the employer that we are united, and that we are willing to fight to improve our working conditions and improve care for residents. And we’ll be on strong footing to make further improvements in our next collective agreement.

In the end, this decision is up to you, and your co-workers. Your negotiations team encourages you to reach out to your co-workers and speak to them about this deal and encourage everyone to vote on it. Just make sure that those conversations don’t take place on employer-paid time.

As always, don’t hesitate to reach out to your negotiations team with any questions, comments, or feedback. We’ll see you on Nov. 5.

Foyer Lacombe NC & 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

Jaime Urbina, Organizer: j.urbina@aupe.org

Jon Milton, Communications Officer: j.milton@aupe.org