Last month, the Mediation Services department of Alberta Jobs, Economy, and Trade published the November 2024 Bargaining Update.
This monthly report provides information about the unionized workforce, primarily in Alberta. In November, Mediation Services received settlement information regarding 20 private sector and 11 public sector bargaining settlements, covering 2,841 and 4,096 workers respectively.
One of those settlements was for about 60 workers employed by Heidelberg Materials Canada at the aggregate facility in Edmonton. The company was previously known as Lehigh Hanson Limited (operating as Inland Aggregates) but rebranded themselves last year.
The workers include mechanics, welders, millwrights, heavy equipment operators, truck drivers, and general labourers. They are represented by Local 955 of the International Union of Operating Engineers.
The previous collective agreement between the two parties expired last February. The workers and the employers settled on a new 3-year contract about a month later; although Mediation Services received a copy only recently.
The workers are set to receive wage increases in every year of their new contract, but how they are set to receive depends on their positions.
For example, journey-level mechanics, welders, and millwrights, as well as apprentices in those fields, are set to receive an $1.25 an hour each year.
Everyone else can expect the following increases:
| 1 March 2024 | 3.25% |
| 1 March 2025 | 2.00% |
| 1 March 2026 | 3.00% |
That works out to a combined increase of 8.25%, or 8.47% if you account for compound increases. The annual average is 2.75% (2.82%).
On top of these increases, however, this second group of workers were set to receive a 25¢ increase in July 2024.
Here are some highlights of other changes in the new contract.
Workers will be required to submit an inventory of all their tools stored on site (including photographs) every year, before 31 January. Any workers who fail to provide the inventory list may not be able to reimbursed for any lost or stolen tools.
Coffee breaks may be combined into a 30-minute break for workers who are scheduled for 10 hours of work.
The meal allowance for workers scheduled for 12-hour shifts has increased from $13 to $15.
Mileage reimbursement has increased from 57¢ per kilometre to 68¢ per kilometre.
Heidelberg has agreed to increase their payment into the IUOE Local 955 Health & Wellness Trust Fund from $1.70 per hour per worker to $1.75 per hour per worker. That will increase to $1.80 next March and $1.85 in March 2026.
The employer contribution to the workers’ pension trust fund has increased from $4.30 per hour to $4.40 per hour for each worker. It’s set to increase to $4.45 this March and $4.50 in March 2026.
New to their latest contract, Heidleberg has agreed to pay 5¢ per hour per worker toward the IUP International Training Centre.
The new collective agreement will expire in February 2027. It also follows a new collective agreement won by Heidelberg workers (represented by Local 362 of the Teamsters) in Calgary last summer.
