Earlier this month, the Mediation Services department of Alberta Jobs, Economy, and Trade published the March 2025 Bargaining Update.
This monthly report provides information about the unionized workforce, primarily in Alberta. In March, Mediation Services received settlement information regarding 14 private sector and 23 public sector bargaining settlements, covering 1,560 and 12,565 workers respectively.
Among those settlements was a contract for about 70 bus drivers employed by the Foothills School Division, which is based out of High River.
These workers are represented by the Foothills School Division Bus Drivers’ Association.
The previous contract expired last August. This new contract was settled this past December, more than 3 months after the last one expired.
The new collective agreement is for 4 years, which is the same as the previous agreement.
These workers are set to receive wage increases in each year of their new contract:
| 1 September 2024 | 3.00% |
| 1 September 2025 | 3.00% |
| 1 September 2026 | 3.00% |
| 1 September 2027 | 3.00% |
This works out to a combined increase of 12% over the course of their new contract. That’s an annual average rise of, well, 3%.
That’s less than they received in their last contract.
| 1 September 2020 | 0.00% |
| 1 September 2021 | 0.00% |
| 1 September 2022 | 0.00% |
| 1 September 2023 | 1.25% |
| 1 February 2024 | 1.50% |
Inflation in Alberta during that period increased 18.40%. That means these workers ended up with a real wage cut of 16.65% during their last contract.
A raise of 12% in their new contract will help, but it’s not all they need to make up for the lost real wages. On top of that, inflation over the 4 years of the new contract will widen the gap even further between what they make and what they need.
Here’s a look at what else has changed between the previous collective agreement and the new one.
In the previous agreement, workers who were away sick for 3 days or more needed a doctor’s note to prove they were actually sick. That’s been increased to 5 days in the new contract. As well, the employer could request a doctor’s note for anything less than 3 days, but that’s been removed from the contract.
Under the previous contract, drivers received two days worth of pay from contacting parents prior to the start of the school year, for pickling up their buses, and for completing paperwork. That’s been changed to 10 hours in the new contract.
National Truth and Reconciliation Day was added to the list of general holidays, which are used to determine stat holiday pay.
The following:
When a route becomes vacant it must be posted.
has been change to:
When a route becomes vacant it must be posted. The position will be posted a minimum of five (5) working days. Notification of the vacancy will be forwarded via email from Transportation Services to all active drivers within one (1) day of the posting. A hard copy of the posting will be available at Transportation Services site.
Posting of the vacant route will include:
- Route Location
- Route Map
The new collective agreement has a new article on termination and displinary action
Article 12 Termination and Disciplinary Action
12.1 All terminations will be done in accordance with Provincial legislation and regulations
12.2 An Employee shall have the right to have a representative of the Association present at any meeting with the Employer. The Employer will make every reasonable effort to provide the employee with at least 24 hours’ notice of a meeting at which they are required to attend.
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[…] is similar to what other public sector workers have received this year (for example, here, here, here, here, here, and […]
[…] is similar to what other public sector workers have received this year (for example, here, here, here, here, here, […]