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 30 bus drivers employed by the Battle River School Division, which is based out of Camrose.
These workers are represented by the Battle River School Bus Drivers’ Association.
The previous contract expired last August. This new contract was settled on 26 September 2024, less than a month after the last one expired; although Mediation Services received a copy of the agreement only recently.
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 | 2.00% |
| 1 September 2025 | 2.00% |
| 1 September 2026 | 1.75% |
| 1 September 2027 | 1.75% |
This works out to a combined increase of 7.50% over the course of their new contract. That’s an annual average rise of 1.88%.
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 June 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 7.5% in their new contract isn’t even half of what 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.
Under the previous agreement, the school district had 15 calendar days after the end of the month to remit union dues they deducted from each paycheque. That’s been increased to 20 calendar days.
Family medical leave has been changed from 2 paid days per year to 2 paid days per school year.
The following has been added to the collective agreement:
Drivers on maternity/paternity leave shall not lose accumulated seniority while on job-protected leave as outlined by Employment Standards.
Mileage will increase from 18.71¢ per kilometre to 20.03¢ per kilometre by the end of the new contract.
