Last week, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees publised an update on their website regarding contract negotiations for long-term care workers in Edmonton.
AUPE represents the more than 130 workers employed by Venta Care Centre Ltd. These workers include health care aides and licensed practical nurses.
Venta Care Centre is a 148-unit long-term care facility in northwest Edmonton. The private company that owns the facility was founded in 1953.
The latest collective agreement for these workers expired nearly 2 years ago, in July 2024. It was ratified in May 2023, a little more than a year before it expired and nearly 6 years after the previous one had expired.
Luckily, bargaining might not take 6 years this time. According to last week’s update, the workers’ bargaining team has reached a tentative agreement with Venta Care Centre.
Should the workers ratify the proposed agreement, they can expect 4 wage increases.
| 1 January 2025 | 3.00% |
| 1 August 2025 | 3.00% |
| 1 August 2026 | 3.00% |
| 1 August 2027 | 3.00% |
| 12.00% |
The combined increase is similar to what other public sector collective agreements have seen over the last year or so.
However, those other agreements have seen wage increases retroactive to the end of their last agreement, which in this case would have been August 2024. This means that none of the hours workers in the first 5 months of the new contract, assuming it is ratified, would see a retroactive wage increase.
Under the proposed agreement, health care aides and licensed practical nurses would receive lump sum payments of $1,500 and $2,000, respectively, to make up for the lost increases in 2024. Keep in mind, however, that lump sum payments do not increase the base salary, which future raises are based on.
For example, if your salary was $40,000, your total compensation would be $41,500 (or $42,000), but your first wage increase would be based on $40,000, not $41,500 ($42,000).
Workers received a combined 4.25% in their last collective agreement, much lower than the current proposal.
The workers’ bargaining committee originally proposed a wage increase effective for August 2024. Plus, they asked for 4% annual increases.
| 1 August 2024 | 4.00% |
| 1 August 2025 | 4.00% |
| 1 August 2026 | 4.00% |
| 1 August 2027 | 4.00% |
| 16.00% |
Now, that being said, Venta Care Centre also agreed to a 4% market adjustment for health care aides and 10% for licensed practical nurses, which would bump up wages even more.
Plus, they are willing to eliminate the lowest step in the wage grid for health care aides, which would see most of these workers move up one step in the wage grid.
Venta Care Centre has agreed to give an extra 2% to workers who have been with the company for at least 20 years.
The tentative agreement would also double the health spending account next year. It was $250 at the end of the last collective agreement, and it would increase to $500 in January. Then it would increase by another $250 the following January.
The employer has agreed to reimburse workers for 70% of their annual registration and liability insurance costs (up to a maximum of $300) starting in January.
For health care aides, Venta Care Centre would pay a one-time reimbursement for their first practice permit.
For licensed practical nurses with an FTE greater than 0.4, they would be entitled to one paid professional development day per year.
Finally, the tentative agreement would let workers take vacation for one uninterrupted period during July or August. Under the previous collective agreement, workers could take an uniterrupted vacation in any month except July or August.
The bargaining team held an information meeting this past Tuesday, during which they explained the proposed agreement and answered questions from workers.
Voting on the new agreement will begin next Monday (20th and end on Friday (24th).
Update (24 July 2026): According to the AUPE, 83 workers participated in the ratification, and every one of them voted in favour of ratifying the new agreement.
