Voting on new contract to take place on April 6
It has been a long and frustrating process, but after years of pushing your negotiating team has reached a tentative agreement for a new contract with your employer.
The employer has made this round of bargaining extremely difficult with its disruptive tactics of unnecessary stalling; making proposals only to remove them later; and showing up to bargaining without people who have the authority to bargain.
Negotiations were also hampered by pressure from the Provincial Bargaining Co-ordination Office (PBCO). It was the PBCO that set the tone for these negotiations, despite the fact it had no jurisdiction. The PBCO chose to interfere, and the employer allowed it to interfere, after the Alberta government ordered an attack on all public-sector bargaining.
Despite this, we have now reached a tentative deal that is almost identical to the offer your negotiating team put on the table in 2021.
The tentative agreement is for 63 months, from January 1, 2019, to March 31, 2024.
It includes the following monetary items:
- January 1, 2019 – 0% wage increase;
- January 1, 2020 – 0% wage increase;
- January 1, 2021 – 0% wage increase;
- January 1, 2022 – 0% wage increase;
- There will be an increase of $150 to the Flex Spending account to $900 from $750;
- Following ratification, there will be a $1,250 lump-sum payment for all full-time and part-time employees and a $500 lump-sum payment for all seasonal employees employed on June 1, 2022.
- January 1, 2023, 1.25% increase;
- September 1, 2023, 1.5% plus an additional 0.5% subject to the following 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 2024, then an additional 0.5% will be added to wages retroactively effective Sept. 1, 2023, for the 2023-24 Fiscal Year. - 4% Market Adjustment for the Mechanics and for the Administrative Support Classifications, effective Jan. 1, 2021, and retroactive based upon individual anniversary date.
There will also be a Letter of Understanding (LOU) stating that all future disputes regarding exemptions from the bargaining unit with respect to current classifications, or classifications subsequently added to the bargaining unit, shall be referred to the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB) for adjudication and a final and binding decision.
Voting on the tentative agreement is scheduled for April 6, 2022. Voting will be in-person at the work site.
You will receive a updated draft collective agreement and a spreadsheet highlighting all the language changes previous to the vote.
If you have any questions, please contact a member of your negotiating team.
AUPE SPECIAL AREAS BOARD NEGOTIATING TEAM MEMBERS
Paulette Gillespie:pkp.2005@hotmail.com or 403-664-0549
Clint Nicholson: poolshot69@yahoo.ca or 403-854-1056
Robin Lacelle:robinlacelle@gmail.com or 403-363-9855
AUPE RESOURCE STAFF
Christian Tetreault, negotiator: c.tetreault@aupe.org
Farid Iskandar, organizer: f.iskandar@aupe.org
Terry Inigo-Jones, communications: t.inigo-jones@aupe.org