Back in 2022, I wrote an article about the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees trying to unionize over 160 workers at Hawthorne, a senior care facility in Cochrane specializing in supportive living and memory care.
The Hawthorne facility is owned by Saint Elizabeth Health Care and operated by Optima Living.
A majority of workers ultimately voted in favour of unionizing, and the Alberta Labour Relations Board certified them as a bargaining unit in August 2022.
The workers then formed a bargaining team (2 of the workers and a negotiator from AUPE) and began negotiating for their first collective agreement.
Unfortunately, the employer was unwilling to agree to the enough of the proposals that the workers’ bargaining team had put on the table, so negotiations moved to mediation in April 2024. A year later, it ended up going to an arbitrator.
Earlier this week, the workers’ bargaining team announced on the AUPE website that the arbitrator had issued their binding decision, which has resulted in the workers finally having their first collective agreement, nearly 3 years after unionizing.
This agreement has a start date of 1 January 2025 and expire at the end of next year, so it’s basically a 2-year contract.
According the the update from the bargaining committee, the agreement establishes a wage grid for all the workers. General care aides will have 3-step wage grid, while licensed practical nurses and certified health care aides will have a 7-step wage grid.
Unfortunately, the new wages aren’t retroactive to the beginning of the collective agreement. Instead, they came into effect as of the date that the arbitrator published their decision.
Starting wages will be $18.74 an hour for general care aides, $21.56 for health care aides, and $28.64 for LPNs.
Workers can expect a 2% increase next January, which will still see starting wages for care aides below $20 an hour and starting wages for LPNs just under $30 an hour.
Any worker who had been employed as of 8 April 2025 will also get a lump sum payment: $1500 for full-time workers and $750 for part-time workers.
Keep in mind that lump sum payments won’t affect future raises. For example, a full-time care aide working 40 hours a week could receive around $39,000 a year, plus the $1500 lump sum payment. Their 2% raise next year, however, will be based on $39,000, not $40,500 they’ll actually receive.
While a lump sum payment is better than nothing, it’s a way for employers to appease workers while also holding back future wages from higher increases.
For example, $1,500 for the care aide in our example above is nearly 4% of their annual wage. Imagine if they got a 4% raise instead. Then that 2% raise next year would go much futher.
Health insurance benefits will be paid 50% by Optima Living and 50% by the workers. Full-time workers will also get a $250 health spending account; part-time workers will also get a health spending account, but their amount will be prorated.
Vacation time will be determined based on how long the workers have been employed with the company.
| Length of service | Vacation time | Vacation pay |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 3 years | 2 weeks | 4% of basic pay |
| 3–7 years | 2 weeks | 6% of basic pay |
| 8–14 years | 4 weeks | 8% of basic pay |
| 15–19 years | 5 weeks | 10% of basic pay |
| 20+ years | 6 weeks | 12% of basic pay |
Workers will also be entitled to up to 3 personal days, accruing at a rate of 1.16% of hours worked. Sick leave will accrue at 2.59% per hours worked up to a maximum of 90 days.
Shift premiums are as follows:
| Evening | $2.00 an hour |
| Night | $3.00 an hour |
| Weekend | $2.25 an hour |
