Revera Our Parents’ Home: Bargaining continues

Bargaining is continuing for AUPE members at Revera Our Parents Home. Your negotiating team met with the employer on April 21 and 22, where we completed most non-monetary items.

So far, we’ve come to an agreement with the employer on the following items:

• Article 4 - Union Membership and Dues Deduction: This specifies that all members of the bargaining unit are covered by the collective agreement and explains how the union will collect dues and member information once the agreement comes into force. Remember though: you aren’t paying dues yet! That only starts when the contract takes effect.
• Article 20 - Workers' Compensation: This provision means that, if you’re injured at work, the employer will have to give you your job back when you’re ready to return.
• Article 22 - Temporary Employees: With this provision, we’ve confirmed that every worker hired for six months or more, who works at least 15 hours per week, is eligible for benefits.
• Article 24 - Layoff, Recall and Severance: This section outlines your rights if the employer decides to cut your hours or reduce overall staffing levels.
• Article 25 - Discipline, Dismissal and Resignation: This provision guarantees you the right to union representation, and other rights, if you’re facing discipline.
• Article 26 - Occupational Health and Safety (OHS): This section creates a joint OHS committee, with elected representatives of the union on board — as well as general OHS rights and responsibilities outlined by the law. The union reps would be paid for their time on the committee.
• Article 27 - Grievance Procedure: This section details the process for settling disputes in the workplace.
• Article 28 - Employee Management Advisory Committee (EMAC): This provision creates a joint employer/worker committee to track and address workers’ concerns in the workplace. Like in the OHS committee, the elected union representative will be paid for their time.

While we’re happy to have closed the book on those items, we still have a few non-monetary items to go. The employer is still dragging their feet and refusing to agree to the types of scheduling provisions that are standard in seniors care agreements. Revera wants to be able to change your schedules on any shift, without any notice or financial penalty. Your negotiating team won’t accept that — we want stability and predictability in our work hours.

We’re also working on ensuring the employer uses your original hiring dates to calculate your vacation time. Despite providing us with written commitments to do so, Revera is currently not doing what they promised. Your negotiating team will use every option available to us — including complaints at the Alberta Labour Relations Board, if necessary — to make them honour that promise.

Finally, your negotiating team made a wage proposal, and we’ll be moving on to monetary items at the next bargaining session. We don’t have a date for that yet, because the employer’s spokesperson will be changing, but we will make sure to keep you in the loop when we know the dates.

Until then, it’s important that you continue supporting your negotiating team. It’s only by standing united that we can secure a fair contract. Revera knows well that they can’t take on all of us — that when the workers at Our Parents Home stand together, we’re unstoppable. Solidarity is our greatest strength.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to your negotiating team with any questions, comments, or feedback.

Negotiating team:

Zeus Ng zeus_ng@mail.com
Jennifer To jenniferjj.to@gmail.com
Renalene Zarate norlhen.lc@gmail.com

Anabelle Liquigan anabelle.liquigan@yahoo.com

AUPE Resource Staff:
Merryn Edwards, Negotiations – m.edwards@aupe.org
Michelle Szalynski, Organizing – m.szalynski@aupe.org
Guy Quenneville, Membership Services Officer –  g.quenneville@aupe.org
Jon Milton, Communications – j.milton@aupe.org