Last week, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees published on their website that workers employed by the provincial government finally had a collective agreement.
These workers are employed in administrative and support services, administrative and program services, correctional and regulatory services, trades and related services, natural resources conservation services, social services, help and support services, and technical and field services.
According to the collective bargaining agreement database maintained by Labour Relations Alberta, AUPE represented over 22,000 government workers in 2021.
These workers had been without a new collective agreement since their previous agreement with the Government of Alberta expired in March 2024, nearly a year and a half ago.
The two parties started bargaining in February 2024, with only a month to go before their previous contract would expire. A year later, they had made no substantial progress, and bargaining ended up going to mediation this past February.
At the end of last month, the Government Services Bargaining Committee, which negotiates on behalf of these workers, announced that the mediator finally had a recommendation for settlement.
The ratification vote ran from 29 August until 3 September, and 71% of the eligible workers participated. Of those, 63.5% voted in favour of the mediator’s recommendation.
Interestingly, the GSBC released the details of the mediator’s recommendation without indicating to the workers on whether to support the recommendations.
Apparently, the mediator refused to release his report to the workers prior to the ratification unless the GSBC either recommended that the workers vote in favour or provided no recommendation at all.
The GSBC could not reach consensus on recommending that workers vote in favour, so they chose not to recommend how to vote at all.
According to AUPE, the government Alberta recommended in their initial monetary proposal wage increases totalling 7.5% over 4 years. Here’s how they break down each year.
| Year 1 | 2.00% |
| Year 2 | 2.00% |
| Year 3 | 1.75% |
| Year 4 | 1.75% |
That works out to an average increase of 1.88% per year.
Keep in mind that in their last collective agreement, these workers had to settle on two years of wage freezes and then a final increase of 2.75% split up into two instalments: 1.25% in January 2023 and 1.5% in September 2023.
That’s on top of two more wage freezes and a 1% increase in the previous collective agreement. That means that these workers received a combined wage increase of 3.75% over the 7 years covered by the two most recent collective agreements.
In April 2016, the Consumer Price Index in Alberta was 135.1. Seven years later, in April 2023, the Consumer Price Index was 163.7. That’s an increase of 28.6, or 21.17%.
Even though these workers received a combined wage increase of 3.75% over those 7 years, because inflation hit 21.17% during the same period, these workers effectively received a cut to the real wages of 17.42%.
In other words, for every $100 that these workers spent back in April 2016, it would’ve cost them $117.42 in April 2023 to purchase the same goods and services. To put it another way, the goods and the services that this $100 would’ve purchased back in April 2016 would’ve been able to purchase only $82.58 worth in April 2023.
Even if we subtract the 7.5% combined wage increase that the Government of Alberta initially proposed for the new contract, the real wages for these workers would have still be 9.92% below what they should be. And does not include inflation over the course of the new contract, which will surely be more than 0%.
So what did GSBC ask for?
Well, based on feedback received from workers prior to bargaining beginning, they offered an initial proposal of 26%: 13% in the first year, 6.5% in the second year, and 6.5% in the final year.
The first two increases combined would have allowed these workers to get caught up on the reduction in real wages they’ve had to endure over the last 7 years, and the proposed increase in the final year would hopefully allow the workers to account for inflation over the life of the contract.
So what did the mediator end up recommending?
| 1 April 2024 | 3.00% |
| 1 April 2025 | 3.00% |
| 1 April 2026 | 3.00% |
| 1 April 2027 | 3.00% |
The first two increases are retroactive.
This is a combined increase of 12%, which is similar to what other public sector workers have received this year (for example, here, here, here, here, here, and here).
A 12% increase is certainly better than the 7.5% the provincial government offered, but it is not even half of what the workers asked for.
The provincial government ends up having to move just 4.5% from their original wage proposal, while the workers had to move 14% from theirs.
This is hardly a meet-in-the-middle contract.
Plus, a 12% increase still falls short of their 17.42% real wage cut heading into bargaining, by nearly 5.5 points. And remember, that does not even account for inflation in the new contract.
Inflation in Alberta between April 2023 (their last raise) and April 2025, for example, was 4.52%. If that inflation keeps up for the second half of the contract, it would eat into three-quarters of the 12% raise, leaving them with a real wage cut of over 6% by March 2028, when the new contract expires.
That being said, there were a few other improvements in the mediator’s recommendations that could help make a difference for some (but not all) of these workers.
In his recommendations, the mediator, Lyle Kanee, said that the wage grid for some of the positions would be adjusted to ensure a minimum of a 4% increases between steps, which would mean additional wage increases for those who exceed their salary range in their current wage grid step.
As well, the following positions would be bumped up in their respective wage scales:
| Position | Increase |
|---|---|
| Administrative support 5 | 3 grades |
| Judicial clerk | 8 grades |
| Senior judicial clerk | 4 grades |
| Deputy clerk | 3 grades |
| Senior deputy clerk | 3 grades |
| Legal administration 1-5 | 1 grade |
| Finance 4 | 3 grades |
| Correctional peace officer 1 | 2 grades |
| Correctional peace officer 2 | 3 grades |
| Correctional peace officer 3 | 3 grades |
| Correctional service worker 2 | 2 grades |
| Correctional service worker 3 | 2 grades |
| Sheriff security transport 1 | 2 grades |
| Sheriff security transport 2 | 4 grades |
| Sheriff security transport 3 | 4 grades |
| Sheriff security transport 4 | 4 grades |
No workers will make below $22.65 an hour, which is less than the $22.98 the GSBC originally proposed.
Workers who have been with the provincial government for at least 20 years either at ratification or before the new agreement expires will receive an additional 2% increase.
That is all that I could find for wage increases, but there were a few other improvements in benefits.
For example, the health spending account will increase next year from $900 to $1200. That is the amount the workers asked for, but they wanted it effective to the start of the contract. The government had asked for no increases for the first two years but smaller increases in the last two years for a final jump of to $1050.
The new agreement also brings the potential for new holidays by adding to the list of paid holidays “any day proclaimed to be a holiday by the government of the province of Alberta or the Government of Canada”. That would include the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, which was not in the previous agreement.
GSBC had proposed increasing the number of special leave days to 11 and the number of personal days to 4, up from 10 and 3, respectively. They won only their proposal for the increase to personal days. Special leave days will remain unchanged at 10.
Workers can now be paid shift premiums and overtime concurrently. Previously, shift premiums would not apply to overtime hours.
Doctor’s notes can now be written by nurse practitioners, psychologists, chiropractors, or physiotherapists. Previously, it was just physicians, psychiatrists, and midwives.
Anyone who must use their personal vehicle for work will either get free or reimbursed parking.
The new contract is effective to 1 April 2024 and will expire in March 2028.
All retroactive pay is supposed to be paid to workers within 90 days of ratification.
3 replies on “Alberta govt workers approve new contract”
Hi Kim,
Could you clarify how the bump in pay grades will interact with the minimum 4% step increases in the pay grid? For example, if a group is moved up by three pay grades, would that effectively mean a 12% increase just from the grid placement—on top of the 12% increases already scheduled over four years? Thanks!
Potentially, although I imagine it would depend where in the pay range of their step they were in. Those closer to the top of the step range probably would see a smaller increase between steps then those who were closer to the bottom. But yes, the step increases are in addition to the broader wage increases. Also, not everyone will receive step increases, but everyone will receive the other 12% increase.
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