Last month, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees published an update on their website regarding contract negotiations for workers employed by the Alberta University of the Arts.
Previously known as the Alberta College of Art and Design, AUArts is based in Calgary and has been providing arts programming for over 100 years.
These workers, which numbered about 75 as of June 2022, when they ratified their last collective agreement, include workers employed in general support services. AUArts faculty are represented by the Alberta University of the Arts Faculty Association.
The previous collective agreement for these workers expired over a year and a half ago, in June 2024.
In their update, the workers’ bargaining team—which consists of two educational art technicians and an AUPE rep—announced that they have reached a tentative agreement with the university.
The tentative agreement includes wage increases in every year of the proposed 4-year deal.
| Year 1 | 3.00% |
| Year 2 | 3.00% |
| Year 3 | 3.00% |
| Year 4 | 3.00% |
This works out to a combined increase of 12%—12.55% if you account for compound increases—over the course of the contract, which is more than the 7.5% the Alberta University of the Arts originally asked for.
However, it is also less than the 26% the workers’ bargaining committee proposed, especially since they wanted it over 3 years, not 4 years.
Here are the wage increases in the tentative agreement compared to the original proposals from the two parties:
| Tentative | AUArts | Workers | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | 3.00% | 2.00% | 13.00% |
| Year 2 | 3.00% | 2.00% | 6.50% |
| Year 3 | 3.00% | 1.75% | 6.50% |
| Year 4 | 3.00% | 1.75% | — |
| 12.00% | 7.50% | 26.00% |
As you can see, the employer had to move 4.5 percentage points from their original request, while the workers had to move 14 points off their first offer. It seems the workers made the larger sacrifice.
Now, you might be sitting here thinking, “Wow. 26% sure does seem like a lot.” That thought might be missing some context.
Here are the wage increases they received in their last two collective agreements:
| 1 July 2017 | 0.00% |
| 1 July 2018 | 0.00% |
| 1 July 2019 | 1.00% |
| 1 July 2020 | 0.00% |
| 1 July 2021 | 0.00% |
| 1 July 2022 | 0.00% |
| 1 April 2023 | 1.25% |
| 1 December 2023 | 1.50% |
So, over that 7.5-year period, they received a combined 3.7%.
Meanwhile, between 1 July 2016 and 1 July 2023, the consumer price index in Alberta rose 30.4 points, from 135.6 to 166. That is a 22.4% increase.
Because these workers received a 3.75% wage increase during a period where inflation jumped by 22.4%, they were actually left with a cut to real wages of 18.67%.
If you think a 26% raise is a lot, surely you must think a cut of nearly 19% is a lot, too.
A 12% is not nothing, so we should appreciate that these workers could receive their largest wage increase in at least two contracts. But it still falls short of helping these workers get caught up to out of control inflation.
And that is not even counting the inflation since their last contract expired or the inflation over the next two years, which will drive up the real wage gap.
There were a handful of other notable changes announced in the tentative agreement.
For example, all days proclaimed by the provincial or federal government as holidays would be considered in the agreement as paid holidays, which are the holidays used to determine stat pay. This would include the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
Discretionary/personal leave days would double from 2 to 4.
If a worker’s position is reclassified and the new classification has a lower wage, that worker, if the tentative agreement is passed, would have their previous wages frozen until the pay rate of the new classification catches up to their previous pay.
Workers would no longer need prior approval from their supervisor to apply to the Professional Development Fund
The ratification vote has been tentatively scheduled for tomorrow, on the 10th. Workers will have the chance to vote on whether to accept the agreement.
