Members will benefit from enhancements to leave provisions, increased RRSP contributions and incremental salary grids.
Your negotiating team is happy to report that after three full days of bargaining, we have reached a tentative replacement agreement with the employer. There were many changes to the collective agreement, most notably:
- Article 7 - Layoff and Recall: The layoff notice period was extended to 30-days for employees if the layoff will be 4-weeks or less, and 60-days if the layoff will be greater than 4-weeks. New language was also added to severance provisions, providing 5% of one year’s salary for each year of service.
- Article 9 – Employee Health and Safety: Added new Pandemic Management language which details the protocols to be in place during a pandemic, and provides paid pandemic leave of up to 30 work days.
- Article 17 – Hours of Work: Amended to specify that hours worked outside of normal hours will be banked at overtime rates, instead of the standard rate.
- Article 20 – Named Holidays: Inclusion of the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation
- Article 22 – Leaves of Absence: Two additional personal leave days have been added so members may observe cultural and religious celebrations. The new language also clarifies which benefits shall be paid during an unpaid leave. The Employer will continue to pay the full amount of health benefit plans for the first 3-months (including maternity/parental leave). After 3 months, an employee wishing to stay on benefits will be required to pay the full premium. Additional language changes to maternity/parental bring the Article in line with current legislative standards.
- Article 23 – Annual Vacation: The article was rewritten to provide greater flexibility in utilizing accrued vacation (up to 16-months from the end of the year in which it was earned).
- Article 25 – Salaries: Re-installed language to provide incremental salary increases on an employee’s anniversary date. Additionally, effective upon ratification all employees will be placed on the salary grid and the step appropriate to their years of service. This will provide salary increases of between 3% and 6% to about 90% of members.
- Article 28 – RRSP: Increased the employer contributions from 4% to 5% of an employee’s gross salary.
The following salary grid increases were also agreed upon:
- 3% effective April 1, 2020
- 0% effective April 1, 2021
- 4% effective April 1, 2022
- 4% effective April 1, 2023
- 2% effective April 1, 2024
Over the life of this collective agreement, most members of the bargaining unit will see a 19% increase in salary.
Virtual Q & A and electronic balloting opens June 8
Your negotiating team will be holding a virtual member information meeting Thursday, June 8 at 12 pm (noon) to answer any questions members may have regarding the tentative agreement. Following the meeting, electronic balloting will open in the afternoon of June 8 and stay open until end-of-day on June 12.
Please do not hesitate to reach out to a member of your negotiating team if you have any questions about this update.
AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM – EDMONTON IMMIGRANT SERVICES ASSOCIATION
Yang (Amanda) Zhang
ynamandazhang@gmail.com
Grazyna Pakos
gpakos@ualberta.net
Sweety Singh
sweetykjs@gmail.com
AUPE RESOURCE STAFF
Dale Perry, Negotiations
d.perry@aupe.org
Prisca Ryan, Negotiations
p.ryan@aupe.org
Communications
co@aupe.org