Employer initially offers rollbacks to monetary proposal
Your negotiating team met with the employer and mediator over two days to try and come to terms on your first collective agreement. The original employer's monetary proposal we received nearly a year ago was very disappointing, with no improvements to any monetary items other than minor salary increases that would have kept you as the lowest paid HCAs and LPNs in Alberta. After signing off on a few more articles with some small gains to time off and leave accruals, we received a new monetary offer late on the first day. After reviewing it, we thought it must have been a mistake since it was actually a rollback of nearly $2 per hour for both classifications. We left truly disappointed, frustrated, and deflated.
On the morning of the second day, we were informed the employer was "red circling" everyone, meaning that the rollback was intentional. However, for legal reasons, the employer should have known they could not put rollbacks on the table after making an offer of increases and this late in the process. This was made quite clear to the employer and new wage grid was proposed. Unfortunately, it contained only minor increases to your current salaries and was still not close to the range of the average HCA and LPNs in Alberta.
Despite the help of the mediator, we were unable to reach an agreement on outstanding matters, including but not limited to shift differential, weekend premium, sick time, hourly wages, yearly increases, and retroactivity. As a result, the mediator will now write his recommendations for what he believes is a fair collective agreement. We expect to receive these recommendations around mid-June.
Once we receive the mediator's final recommendations, your negotiating team will debrief and review them before bringing them to you for a ratification vote.
We want to thank you for your support over the past 2.5 years and assure you that we have been engaged, respectful, and fighting for each of you to ensure that your voices are heard and that you receive fair compensation. We hope to receive a favorable recommendation from the mediator so that we can put this long round of negotiations behind us. We continue to be committed to working with the employer to find a solution that supports the well-being and success of both employees and the organization.
Thank you again for your patience and support throughout this process.
AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM – WHITEHORN VILLAGE
Stacey Ryan-Chipman
staceyryanchipman@gmail.com or 403-589-6688
Azebe Mamo
kumelazebe@yahoo.com or 403-797-1621
Susan Kuriakose
susanplanchottil@yahoo.com or 587-707-7859
AUPE RESOURCE STAFF
Christian Tetreault, Negotiations
c.tetreault@aupe.org
Jennifer Garrison, Membership Services
j.garrison@aupe.org
Michelle Szalynski, Organizing
m.szalynski@aupe.org
Communications
co@aupe.org