Last month, the Mediation Services department of Alberta Jobs, Economy, and Trade published the February 2025 Bargaining Update.
This monthly report provides information about the unionized workforce, primarily in Alberta. In February, Mediation Services received settlement information regarding 16 private sector and 5 public sector bargaining settlements, covering 1,598 and 3,407 workers respectively.
Among those settlements was a contract for about 100 workers employed by First Transit Canada Inc, which was purchased by Transdev Canada Inc in 2023.
Based out of France, Transdev offers transportation services (such as public transit, school buses, and shuttles) in 6 Canadian provinces, including bus services in the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo.
The workers in this collective agreement include coach drivers, shuttle bus drivers, site utility workers, heavy equipment operators, and mechanics.
They’re represented by Local 955 of the International Union of Operating Engineers.
The previous contract expired back in July 2024. This new contract was settled in December 2024, several months after the last one expired. As well, the previous agreement covered about 200 workers, so the number of workers has shrunk by half since then.
The new collective agreement is for 2 years, which is less than the 3-year term in the previous agreement.
These workers are set to receive no wage increases in their new contract, having their wages frozen at 2023 levels. Here’s what they got in their last contract:
| 2021 | 0.00% |
| Ratification | 2.25% |
| 1 August 2022 | 0.00% |
| 1 August 2023 | 1.00% |
This works out to a combined increase of just 3.25% over the course of their previous contract. That’s an annual average increase of between only 1.08%, which shrinks to 0.65% per year if we include the two wage freezes in the new contract.
There is no way that this will help these workers keep up with inflation, which increased 2% just between August 2023 and August 2024.
So, the employer gets bought out by another company and forces wage freezes on the workers at the first opportunity.
Here’s a look at what else has changed between the previous collective agreement and the new one.
If a laid-off worker wants to bump a worker with less seniority, they now have only 14 day from the layoff date to do so. There was no limit listed in the previous agreement.
General duties for coach and shuttle operators now includes daily cleaning, such as sweeping, mopping, dusting and window cleaning. The previous contract left “general duties” unspecified.
The following were added to the collective agreement:
On completion of 90 calendar days of the required days of probationary employment, such employees shall be entitled to all allowances of this agreement.
Upon mutual agreement between the employer and union it is agreed they shall have the right to extend the probationary period.
