Last week, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees published an update regarding contract negotiations for care workers in Medicine Hat.
These 30 or so workers are employed by AgeCare Investments Ltd., an Alberta-based company that oversees the operation of care homes throughout Canada, including Valleyview, a 102-bed long-term care facility next to Medicine Hat Regional Hospital.
AUPE represents these workers, which include licensed practical nurses, health care aides, occupational therapists, physical therapists, and recreational assistants.
The last collective agreement for these workers expired since March 2023, which means they have gone almost 3 years without a agreement.
Bargaining began in May 20203, according the the bargaining update reports published by Alberta Mediation Services. By August, they had already gone to informat mediation. However, it became clear early on that “AgeCare had no interest in improving their offer or resolving the issues” that workers had prioritized during pre-bargaining information gathering.
After a process that the workers’ bargaining committee referred to as leaving them “baffled and frustrated”, they went to arbitration in March of this year.
Last week’s update announced the results of arbitration, which provided wage increases and changes to vacation entitlement. The arbitrator declined all other monetary items that the bargaining team asked for.
| 1 April 2023 | 2.00% |
| 1 April 2024 | 2.00% |
| 1 April 2025 | 2.00% |
That is a combined 6% over the course of the new collective agreement, which is set to expire next March, just 3 months from now.
It is also less than what we have seen in most other public sector bargaining, which typically have resulted in 3% annual increases.
That being said, it is better than what they got in their last two agreements.
| 1 April 2018 | 0.00% |
| 1 April 2019 | 1.00% |
| 1 April 2020 | 0.00% |
| 4 October 2021 | 1.00% |
| 1 April 2022 | 1.50% |
That is a combined 3.5% over 5 years, which works out to just 0.7% per year, on average, much lower than the 2% per year they are getting in their new arbitrated agreement.
To be fair, these workers also got a 1.5% signing bonus in 2018 and a 0.75% lump sum payment in 2020. These help pay the bills, but they do not increase the base salary, which is what percentage-based increases build on.
For example, a base salary of $30,000 in 2017 would have ended up being about $31,062 after the 2022 raise. If that signing bonus and lump sum payments had been raises instead, the 2022 raise would have been about $31,764.
A 2% annual raise for 3 years straight is definitely an improvement.
Unfortunately, it still falls short of what these workers needed to keep up with the increased cost of living.
You see, the consumer price index in Alberta increased from 137.4 points in April 2017 to 157.0 points in April 2022. That is a jump of 19.6 points, or 14.26%.
With inflation being 14.26% but their combined wage increases being just 3.5%, this left these care workers with a cut to real wages of 10.76%.
A 6% wage increase falls short of making up for those real wage cuts. Even if we factor in compound increases, it still leaves them with a 8.14% real wage cut.
Keep in mind though, that this is just for inflation up until April 2022. If we add in inflation up until April 2024, that real wage cut balloons to 17.12%.
They are worse off in real wages than they were at the end of their last contract.
Again, 6% over 3 years is better than wage freezes and lump sum payments, but these workers deserved more.
On top of that, because the bargaining process was delayed so much, which the bargaining team for the workers insisted was not their fault, retroactive wages will be reduced by 25%, so they will end up with even less money.
The only other significant change announced by the workers’ bargaining party was a change to vacation entitlements.
| Vacation length | Length of service Old | Length of service New |
|---|---|---|
| 15 work days | 1–4 years | 1–4 years |
| 20 work days | 5–16 years | 5–14 years |
| 25 work days | 17+ years | 15+ years |
The workers’ bargaining team will hold in-person sessions on 6 January at their regional offices in Medicine Hat and Lethbridge, as well as an online session.
