Last week, the Mediation Services department of Alberta Jobs, Economy, and Trade published the May 2025 Bargaining Update.
This monthly report provides information about the unionized workforce, primarily in Alberta. In May, Mediation Services received settlement information regarding 27 private sector and 22 public sector bargaining settlements, covering 19,771 and 17,459 workers respectively.
Among those settlements was a contract for about 300 workers employed by various painting contractors throughout Alberta.
Local 177 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades represents this group of workers.
Their previous contract expired this past April. Their new contract was ratified just 1 day after the last one expired and will run until April 2029.
The workers are set to receive wage increases in each year of the new contract.
| 4 May 2025 | 3.00% |
| 3 May 2026 | 2.00% |
| 2 May 2027 | 2.00% |
| 7 May 2028 | 3.00% |
This will result in a combined increase of 10% over the life of the collective agreement, or 10.38% if you account for compound increases. That averages out to 2.5% (2.56%) per year.
In comparison, inflation between March 2024 and March 2025 was 2.8%. This is barely enough to cover inflation for just 1 year, let alone 2. These are insufficient wage increases.
And that’s not even accounting for below-inflation raises in the previous contracts.
Here are some highlights of other things that have changed in this new contract.
The following clause was added to the collective agreement:
In the event of “unscheduled overtime” following a 10-hour day in a standard shift or a 12-hour day in a compressed work week, the first 2 hours will be paid at one and one-half (1½) time . This will apply only for “unscheduled overtime” when the nature of the work requires the continuation of that shift and stopping the work will result in significant rework or quality concerns the next day (i.e. spray days). This clause is applicable for up to a maximum of 3 days per work week.
“Hazardous materials” and “lead paint or coatings” have been added to the list of services in the scope of work article.
The following paragraphs were added to the section on site access testing.
There will be no mandatory referrals for site access test failures or no shows for new hires, as no employment relationship has yet been established.
The Union shall be responsible for reimbursement to the employer, for the associated costs of the pre-access alcohol and drug tests, if the worker is a current dispatched member of the Union hall and fails the alcohol and/or drug test, refuses to test or is a no-show for the test. The Union may seek reimbursement from the member for the costs reimbursed to the employer.
