LOCAL 039 – NON-ACADEMIC STAFF
Employer continues to push for rollbacks across the board
In the face of continued unreasonable demands for rollbacks from your employer, negotiations are now heading to informal, third-party mediation.
This is not unexpected. Since negotiations began, SAIT has been pushing to weaken our collective agreement in almost every area. The employer is also seeking to restrict legitimate union activities and to undermine the union.
Its proposals are worse than we have seen at other post-secondary institutions in Alberta. Most have ratified agreements with no rollbacks.
Your negotiating team proposed to change little from the previous contract, but our efforts have been rejected. SAIT has decimated our membership through job abolishments and contracting out in the last few years, while it continues to hire out-of-scope positions.
We are hopeful a third party will agree with our assessment and that we can move forward through this mess.
We are attempting to schedule mediation as soon as calendars permit. It is looking like late August, but we will update you accordingly.
Here are some of the items still on the table:
Monetary
The employer has proposed that all wage tables will be increased:
- 1.25% effective April 1, 2023; and
- 1.5% effective December 1, 2023.
We also expect to see the “gain-share formula” of 0.5% on December 1, 2023. That has become the pattern in bargaining with post-secondary institutions where the Provincial Body Co-ordination Office (PBCO) is involved. *
Article 9: Time off for Union Business
The Employer is attempting to diminish our members’ union rights to attend convention, seminars/conferences, by restricting the number of days permitted to be away.
Article 12: Position Abolishment
The Employer has proposed new clauses to which we could never agree, while rolling back other entitlements found throughout the article.
Article 15: Overtime
The Employer is attempting to roll back the amount you are compensated for overtime at a strict 1.5 hours for all hours worked. SAIT wants all overtime to be paid as time off, rather than money.
We know that overtime is out of control at SAIT. The loss off 200 jobs over the past few years means we are often doing the work of one, two or three people. Taking time off in lieu of overtime you are owed becomes almost impossible in this scenario.
Article 30: Employee Benefits
The Employer wants to delete the standardized plan.
Article 21: Paid Holidays
The Employer wants to roll back the entitlements and pay to the bare minimum found in provincial employment standards.
Article 34: Special Leave
The Employer wants to roll back the circumstances when members can take bereavement leave, reducing the definition of family member to the bare minimum found in provincial employment standards.
Article 44: Tuition
The Employer has proposed to remove the article in its entirety. It’s ironic that a learning institution wants to deny learning opportunities to their employees.
Article 47: Long Service Allowance & Article 49: Step Increments
SAIT has proposed both be tied to previous discipline on record. This comes from an Employer that has threatened members in the past for using work printers. If we agreed to this, our members would be sitting in endless disciplinary meetings.
We are attempting to schedule mediation as soon as calendars permit. Please stay tuned for future updates.
*Gain Sharing Formula:
Alberta’s 20-year average (2000-2019) of Real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is 2.7%. Provided that the “Average of All Private Forecasts for Alberta’s Real GDP” for 2023 calendar year is at or above 2.7% as of February of 2024, then an additional 0.5% will be added to wages retroactively effective December 1, 2023.
“Average of All Private Forecasts for Alberta’s Real GDP” for 2023 calendar year would be a simple average of Alberta’s Real GDP for 2023 across the following independent forecasting institutions: Conference Board of Canada • Stokes Economics • BMO Capital markets • CIBC World Markets • Laurentian Bank • National Bank • RBC Royal Bank • Scotiabank • TD Bank. The most recent publicly available forecast for Alberta’s Real GDP for 2023 would be sourced from each institution at the time the pay-out determination would be made in February 2024.
AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM - SAIT
Rose Read
roseread@shaw.ca
Lauren Wood
laurenwood_15@hotmail.com
AUPE STAFF RESOURCES
Christian Tetreault Negotiations
c.tetreault@aupe.org
Scott Drake Organizing
s.drake@aupe.org
Terry Inigo-Jones Communications
t.inigo-jones@aupe.org