Earlier this month, the Collective Bargaining Information Services department of Alberta Jobs, Economy, Trade, and Immigration published their October 2025 Bargaining Update.
Last month, Mediation Services received information on contract settlements regarding 89 bargaining relationships, which affected over 50,000 workers.
Of those nearly 90 relationships, 19 were in the private sector and 70 were in the public sector.
Among them was a collective agreement for education workers represented by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees and employed by the Living Waters Catholic Separate School Division.
This school division is based out of Whitecourt and oversees the operation of 8 Catholic schools in Edson, Slave Lake, and Whitecourt.
The workers covered by this collective agreement include educational assistants, custodians, clerks, financial assistants, secretaries, education coaches, early childhood facilitators, lifeskills facilitators, after school care workers, and those working in nutrition programmes, libraries, maintenance, and technology.
After school care workers were not included in the previous collective agreement.
In February 2024, when they ratified their most recent collective agreement, it covered 109 workers. That number has shrunk to 86, the first time since at least 2005 that it has dropped below 100.
Their last collective agreement expired in August 2024. The new one was ratified this past June, about 10 months later. And while that might seem like a long time to be without a new contract, keep in mind that their last contract was ratified 3.5 years after the previous one had expired.
These workers are set to receive wage increases in every year of their new 4-year contract.
| 1 September 2024 | 3.00% |
| 1 September 2025 | *3.00% |
| 1 September 2026 | 3.00% |
| 1 September 2027 | *3.00% |
That is a combined 12% (at least) over the life of the contract, for an average of, well, 3% per year.
A 12% increase over 4 years is pretty typical for public sector collective agreements ratified this year in Alberta. It might seem like a fair deal, but keep in mind that they got wage freezes in their last collective agreement.
| 1 Sep 2020 | 0.00% |
| 1 Sep 2021 | 0.00% |
| 1 Jun 2023 | 1.25% |
| 1 Feb 2024 | 1.50% |
This follows a combined increase of 2.5% in their previous contract.
Let’s review this.
Between September 2016 and September 2024, these workers received a combined 5.25% wage increase.
During that same period, the consumer price index in Alberta increased from 135.3 points to 169.2 points. That is a jump of 33.9 points, or 25.06%.
So because inflation during this period was over 25%, that combined 5.25% wage increase over 2 contracts ended up being loss in real wages of 19.81%.
A 12% increase will whittle that down to 7.81%, which still keeps these workers below the increase to the cost of living. Even then, that 12% is spread out over 4 years, which also means 4 more years of inflation.
Inflation in the first year of this new collective agreement, for example, is already 1.89%, bring the loss in real wages to nearly 10%, and we still have 3 more years to go.
The lowest paid wage at the end of the last agreement was $18.09 an hour, which was the starting wage for custodians. By the end of the new agreement, that will have increased to $21.73 an hour.
Here are some other changes to the new collective agreement.
The following was added to the definition of temporary employee:
In the case of covering a long-term absence from the workplace, temporary status may be extended up to 24 months with written notification to the union.
The following definition was added:
Basic rate of pay shall mean the incremental step in Salary Schedule “A” applicable to an employee in accordance with the terms of this collective agreement, exclusive of all premium payments.
The following were removed from the agreement:
4.07 The employer will provide access to the collective agreement to new employees. The union will provide copies of the collective agreement to existing employees and any other materials the union deems necessary.
4.10 In the event any provision of this agreement is in conflict with any existing or future legislation applicable to the employer, the section affected shall be renegotiated to the satisfaction of both parties. Such action shall not affect any other provision of the agreement.
Union leave for workers who are elected or selected for a full-time position with the union has been increased to 2 years, during which time, they will not lose seniority. In the previous agreement, it was only 1 year. As well, the 1-year maximum limit on renewing union leave has been removed.
Either the worker or the employer can request non-binding mediation after the final step of the grievance process. However, there is a time limit of 10 days to submit the request; previously, there had been no limit. The other party must respond in 10 days to accept or reject mediation, a limit that also did not exist in the previous agreement.
The following was added to the collective agreement:
14.04 All temporary and casual employees shall be paid vacation pay at the rate of 4% of regular earnings.
After school care workers have the same shift length as nutrition programme leads, which is a minimum of 3 hours per day. No shift length was listed for this position in the previous collective agreement.
Personal leave has increased from 2 days per school year to 3 days.
The following was removed from the contract:
17.06 An employee who requires time off for the purpose of attending medical, dental or such appointment shall be granted time off with pay and benefits in accordance with Article 19.01, under Sick Leave. An employee may be required to provide proof of attending such appointment.
The cost of a sick note required by the employer will be reimbursed by the employer.
Sick leave can now be used for medical appointments.
There is a new classroom supervisor premium for workers who are reassigned from their regular duties to the role of classroom supervisor for at least 2 hours in 1 school day. The premium is $2.
The following clauses was added to the collective agreement:
23.05 All casual employees will be paid at the lowest applicable grid (clerk-typist) hourly rate except casual custodians, who will be paid at the lowest applicable custodial hourly rate.
