Town of Coaldale: Wage proposals exchanged

Your negotiating team met with the Town of Coaldale on November 15 to begin bargaining for wages and benefits.

We proposed a 3-year agreement with three years of wage increases:

January 1, 2025: 13% increase + Cost-of-Living Adjustment (COLA)
January 1, 2026: 6.5% increase
January 1, 2027: 6.5% increase

Our proposal also includes market adjustments for certain classifications, increases to overtime pay, and benefits adjustments. We proposed a 4-step pay grid — which gives an annual wage increase on top of the negotiated wage increase — for the first four years on the job.

The employer also proposed a 3-year agreement, but with much lower wage adjustments:

January 1, 2025: 2.5%
January 1, 2026: 2.5%
January 1, 2027: 2.5%

While their opening monetary proposals came in on the lower end, this is to be expected as part of the negotiation process. They mentioned trying to find areas to save money and then reallocate it to other areas, but we don’t agree that the money spent on our members should only come from a small pool of recirculated funds that never expands.

We also pointed out our top-heavy structure, with 23 out-of-scope staff responsible for 41 unionized workers. In comparison, the City of Lethbridge employs 27 out-of-scope staff responsible for approximately 900 workers.

The employer seemed to consider our proposals and agreed to meet again soon. Your negotiating team views this as a positive outcome, and we are cautiously optimistic that the employer will improve their monetary proposals.

We are watching other bargaining tables closely. AUPE members are facing the same challenges across the province, no matter who they work for, and we are all united in the same struggle for better wages and benefits.

Next meetings

Our next meetings have not yet been scheduled, but we have tentatively agreed to meet in early December. 

Wear red at work to show your support! Solidarity matters, and you can also take photos of you and your coworkers wearing red and send them to photos@aupe.org; they will then be posted to AUPE’s social media. 

Please contact a member of your negotiating team if you have any questions or feedback about this bargaining update.

AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM – TOWN OF COALDALE
Gerriane Timmerman gerriane@gmail.com
Ryan Moman ryanmoman@hotmail.com
Jesse Vander Heyden j.vanderheyden88@gmail.com

AUPE RESOURCE STAFF
Christian Tetreault Negotiations
c.tetreault@aupe.org