Just before nurses across Alberta were ready to go on strike, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) reached a tentative agreement with the provincial government.
“It's been exhausting. It's been frustrating at times because sometimes we don't know who we're talking to so we have to call to get permission,” Sanda Asocar, president of AUPE, said at a news conference in Edmonton.
Azocar said talks would last until 11pm on most days, but on Friday talks lasted until 1am Saturday. She said the last call from the province came Saturday morning, minutes before the 8:30 a.m. strike deadline.
“This deal may not include 100 percent of what we asked for, but it sets a new standard in health care and the labor movement more broadly,” Azocar said.
After nearly 20 months of negotiations, in the final days before the deal, 98 per cent of the 16,000 Alberta health workers represented by the union voted to strike.
Alberta Premier Danielle Smith addressed the settlement during her weekly radio show on Saturday.
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“We really hope that with this recommendation we will see an end to unionization,” she said. “There were a lot of people last night trying to bridge this latest gap.”
The agreement stipulates that union members will receive wage increases of three percent each year, with a 12 percent increase over four years.
Initially hesitant to accept the province's offer of a 12 per cent increase, AUPE's lead negotiator Kate Robinson said that all changed after the province included a retroactive adjustment for health-care workers.
“We believe this reflects the value that these workers bring to the health care system retroactively. So it's not just the market adjustments that we've seen in other deals, it's that they went into effect on the date of ratification. Those market adjustments go back to April 1, 2024,” Robinson said.
With retroactive pay included, wages for licensed practical nurses would increase by a total of 24 percent and for healthcare workers by 17 percent, according to AUPE.
Azocar said staffing shortages remain the biggest challenge facing Alberta's health care sector, and she wants to see the province address the issue more directly.
“The staffing shortage is not going to go away. We still have a vacancy rate of 12 percent and that's something we continue to work on. Some of the items we've been able to get here will go some way to addressing that issue,” she said.
In her comments on the deal, the Prime Minister did not directly address personnel issues.
“Not everything can be resolved at the negotiating table,” she said. “I'm sure we'll have to do some extra work with all of our departments to ensure they have the best possible workplace experience.”
The union plans to hold a ratification vote after the Nov. 25 town hall.
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