Bargaining Update: Revera McConachie Gardens—Local 047, Chapter 058
Bargaining for our first collective agreement is continuing at Revera McConachie Gardens, and your negotiations team wants to keep you informed.
Your negotiations team had four bargaining sessions with the employer in September and October, where we signed off on a series of non-monetary articles:
- Layoff and Recall
- Appointments, Promotions and Transfers
- Performance Appraisals
- Human Resources Personnel File
- Employee-Management Advisory Committee
We agreed that our next dates would cover monetary items. On Jan. 10 and 11, we held our first bargaining sessions on the subject. The employer tabled their monetary proposal.
For your negotiations team, the employer’s proposal is a non-starter, particularly when it comes to benefits. They were willing to lower the threshold for benefit eligibility to 40 regular hours worked biweekly, which would bring about six new people into the benefit plan—but their proposal would see all benefit-enrolled employees cover 30 per cent of the premiums, which are currently 100 per cent employer paid. Under this proposal, there would be no improvement to the benefits plan.
That is, of course, not acceptable to your negotiations team. We’re not at the bargaining table to accept rollbacks—we’re negotiating for a fair collective agreement that benefits everyone.
There were some measures where we found some agreement with the employer, such as the fact that lower-paid classifications should see faster increases than higher-paid classifications. This will help raise up our co-workers and build solidarity in our workplace.
But your negotiations team refuses to follow the employer’s plans to exclude other provisions that are common in collective agreements for continuing care facilities—such as sick leave, RRSP contributions, shift differentials, overtime, and more.
The employer claims that they can’t offer such improvements at McConachie because the site does not receive Alberta Health Services funding. But Revera—a for-profit company—has never shared any financial data for McConachie, and they stop short of claiming that they are unable to compensate staff at industry standard levels.
Your negotiations team knows that all of us expect to be compensated fairly. We unionized because we want to improve our workplace—both for ourselves and the residents we care for. That means Revera needs to recognize the value of the work we do, and compensate us accordingly.
A fair collective agreement is within reach, but there is still work to be done. We know that we all want to make improvements faster—but we thank you for your patience, support, and solidarity.
Our next bargaining dates are on Feb. 11 and Feb. 25. We will be presenting Revera with our counter-offer at that point, and hope to make progress on coming to a fair deal.
Your support and solidarity is essential to this process. By showing the employer that we are united, we force them to take us seriously. The stronger our unity, the stronger our collective agreement will be.
Make sure to reach out to your negotiations team with any questions, comments, or feedback. And keep an eye out for a next update after our next bargaining dates in February.
MCCONACHIE GARDENS NEGOTIATIONS TEAM
Corrina May Ominayak 780-340-9054 | cominayak@gmail.com
Mary Symborski 403-483-1216 | mary.m.symborski@gmail.com
Desiree Bailey 780-905-5491 | baileydesiree4@gmail.com
Alternate: Ruthessa (Tessa) Chua 587-340-0260 | rei.ayumi23@gmail.com
AUPE RESOURCE STAFF:
Merryn Edwards, Negotiations 780-952-1951 | m.edwards@aupe.org
Guy Quenneville, Membership Services Officer 780-237-8253 | g.quenneville@aupe.org
Michelle Szalynski, Organizing 403-634-8262 | m.szalynski@aupe.org