Last month, the Mediation Services department of Alberta Jobs, Economy, and Trade published the December 2024 Bargaining Update.
This monthly report provides information about the unionized workforce, primarily in Alberta. In December, Mediation Services received settlement information regarding 24 private sector and 10 public sector bargaining settlements, covering 2,429 and 3,797 workers respectively.
Among those settlements was a contract for about 70 workers employed by the AgeCare. Based in Calgary, AgeCare manages over 50 aging-in-place facilities in Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario.
These workers include nurses employed by AgeCare at their Midnapore facility in Calgary, and they’re represented by the United Nurses of Alberta.
The previous contract for these workers expired in August 2021. The new contract was settled in December 2023, over 2 years later. It expired 8 months later, in August 2024. Mediation Services only recently received their copy.
In their latest collective agreement, the nurses were supposed to receive wage increases in every year of the 3-year contract. Since these raises were all dated to before the contract was actually settled, they were all retroactive.
| 1 September 2021 | 1.00% |
| 1 September 2022 | 3.25% |
| 1 September 2023 | 3.00% |
This amounted to a combined increase of 7.25%, or an annual average increase of 2.42%.
If you add in the 4 years of wage freezes they received in their last contract, which was negotiated under an NDP administration, then the average annual increase drops to just 1.04%.
So, between 1 September 2016, their last raise prior to these contracts, and 1 September 2023, they received wage freezes in 4 of those 7 years followed by 7.25% in wage increases.
Now let’s compare these to inflation.
The consumer price index in Alberta sat at 135.3 in September 2016, and it increased 30.7 points to 166.0 by September 2024. That’s an increase of 22.69%.
Since these workers got an increase of 7.25% over a 7-year period but inflation was 22.69% during the same period, they’re left with a cut to real wages of 15.44%.
These nurses are currently negotiating a new contract with AgeCare. At a minimum, their employer should be giving them 15.5% in their first year to make up for their loss in real wages.
Inflation between September 2023 and September 2024 was 1.93%, so they should be getting at least 2% in their second year. And then I’d suggest at least 2% in all subsequent years.
But, we’ll see how seriously AgeCare values their workers.
Now let’s review some of the changes in this new contract, which has actually since expired.
Under the previous contract, AgeCare had agreed to reimburse professional association fees for workers, up to $200 for registered nurses and $150 for licensed practical nurses. That changed to 45% of their fees up to a standard $250 for registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, and licensed practical nurses.
Dental care improved from a maximum of $2,500 per person per year to $3,000 per person per year. Orthodontic services likewise increased from a maximum of $2,500 to $3,000.
Part-time and casual workers who have been with the AgeCare for 25 years or longer, were entitled to 12.4% vacation pay. It used to max out at 12% for those working 20 years and longer.
In-lieu of named holiday pay increased from 4.4% to 5.0% for part-time and casual workers.
The section on subsistence pay was removed in the latest contract. This section had outlined how much workers would be reimbursed for meal, accommodation, and travel expenses when working 50 kilometres or farther from home.
