Last month, the Mediation Services department of Alberta Jobs, Economy, Trade, and Immigration published their December 2025 Bargaining Update.
The monthly report provides information about Alberta’s unionized workforce, primarily collective agreement settlement information the department received in December 2025.
In December, Mediation Services received settlement information regarding 40 bargaining relationships encompassing 21,601 employees. Of those relationships, 17 were in the private sector and 23 were in the public sector, covering 2,128 and 19,473 employees respectively.
One of those collective agreements was for about 60 workers employed by Nors.
Based out of Portugal, Nors specializes in equipment manufacturing, particularly trucks, buses, construction equipment, and agricultural equipment.
This particular collective agreement covers all of Nors shop and parts workers in Alberta. These workers had been previously employed by Strongco Equipment, which ended up being acquired by Nors in 2020.
They are members of Local 1722 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers and include heavy equipment technicians, mechanics, crane stallers and assemblers, welders, parts technicians, warehouse and shipping workers, drivers, and labourers.
Their previous collective agreement expired at the end of last April. This new agreement was ratified less than two weeks later.
The new agreement includes 3 percentage-based wage increases, the first of which was retroactive:
| 1 May 2025 | 6.00% |
| 1 May 2026 | 3.00% |
| 1 May 2027 | 3.00% |
This is a combined 12% over the course of the agreement, which expires in April 2028, or an average of 4% per year.
This is a bit lower than their last collective agreement, which gave them a 9% increase over 3 years.
By the time this new collective agreement expires, the lowest base wage will be $35.09 an hour.
Workers were to also get a $500 signing bonus, which can be put into their pension instead.
Here are some more changes between the previous collective agreement and the new one.
The standard working day is 8 hours long, lasting from 07:00 until 15:30, with a half-hour unpaid meal break. The previous contract allowed for a start time of 07:30, 08:00, or 08:30, with corresponding later end times. The new contract allows for a 09:00 start time, but that shift would not end until 18:00 and would include a full-hour unpaid meal break.
Workers also have the option to work 4 10-hour days instead of 5 8-hour days. Under the previous agreement, those shifts typically began at 07:00, but that has changed to 06:30 in the new agreement.
Meal reimbursement for those working more than 10 hours has increased from $20 to $35.
On-call pay for mechanics and parts persons has changed from $350 per pay period to $60 per day.
Additional earnings are now included in calculating vacation pay, including overtime, double time, call-in pay, shift premiums, banked time taken, and retroactive pay. Here is how it breaks down based on years of service.
| Years of service | Additional earnings calculation |
|---|---|
| 1–2 years | 4.0% |
| 3–5 years | 6.0% |
| 6–12 years | 8.0% |
| 13–19 years | 10.0% |
| 20–25 years | 12.0% |
| 26 years | 12.4% |
| 27 years | 12.8% |
| 28 years | 13.2% |
| 29 years | 13.6% |
| 30 years | 14.0% |
The tuition maximum for apprentices has increased from $1,600 to $1,900.
Paramedical cover in extended health benefits has increased from $500 per year per person to $600 for physio, chiropractic, and massage and from $300 to $3500 for all other paramedical services.
Dependents under the age of 25 will now get annual vision coverage of $500, which was only $450 previously. For dependents under 18, it has changed from $300 to $350 per year.
Employer matching contributions has changed.
| Length of service | Old | New |
|---|---|---|
| 4 months–5 years | 4% | 4% |
| 6–14 years | 4% | 5% |
| 15+ years | 6% | 6% |
There is a $2 warehouse lead hand premium now, something I could not find in the previous collective agreement.
The living assistance premium for workers in the Wood Buffalo region has increased from $1,100 per month to $1,200 per month.
Resident field techs will also see their premium increases: from $850 per month to $900 per month.
The overtime meal reimbursement has increased from $25 to $35.
