Earlier this month, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees published an update regarding contract negotiations for workers employed by Lethbridge Polytechnic.
AUPE members at Lethbridge Polytechnic fill a wide variety of positions, including research assistants, kitchen workers, tech support, caretakers, administrative assistants, cashiers, accounting, lab technicians, communications, and tradesworkers.
Bargaining with Lethbridge Polytechnic, which was called Lethbridge College prior to a name change in the summer of 2024, for the new contract began that June, just before the last contract expired.
The most recent collective agreement for these more than 350 workers expired in June 2024, but it took nearly two years after the previous one had expired before this one was finally ratified.
This new update says that the workers’ bargaining team—which includes an administrative assistant, a funding specialist, and an admissions specialist—has finally reached a tentative agreement with the employer.
Included in the new agreement is 3% wage increase every year for 4 years.
| 1 July 2024* | 3.00% |
| 1 July 2025* | 3.00% |
| 1 July 2026 | 3.00% |
| 1 July 2027 | 3.00% |
This in line with what other public sector agreements have received over the past year and is much better than what they received over the previous decade.
| 2013 | 0.00% |
| 2014 | 2.50% |
| 2015 | 2.50% |
| 2016 | 1.90% |
| 2017 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 1.00% |
| 2020 | 0.00% |
| 2021 | 0.00% |
| 2022 | 0.00% |
| 2023 | 2.75% |
These workers received 6 years of wage freezes between 2013 and 2023 and a combined 10.65% during that period, which works out to 1.07% per year, on average.
So, this proposed raise is better than anything they have received in any of their last 4 contracts. But those 6 wage freezes means wages for these workers have fallen behind inflation during the past decade.
In July 2012, the consumer price index in Alberta was 126.8 but had risen to 166.0 by July 2023, an increase of 39.2 points. That’s a jump of 30.91%.
When you put that together with the 10.65% wage increase the workers received in their last contract, they ended up with a cut to real wages—wages adjusted for inflation—of 20.26% heading into this new round of bargaining.
To put that into perspective, for each $1000 these workers made in July 2012, it would be the same as getting paid $797.40 in July 2023, when accounting for wages and inflation.
In other words, for every $1000 they spent on goods and services in July 2012, it would’ve cost them $1,202.60 to buy the same goods and services in the summer of 2023. Either that, or they’d be able to afford only $797.40 of those goods and services.
A combined increase of 12% falls short of what is needed to address this reduction in real wages. And that’s not even addressing the inflation in 2024, last year, this year, or next year.
Here are some other changes to the tentative agreement.
If ratified, the contract would increase special leave from 8 days per academic year to 10 days.
Vacation days would improve for workers employed for at least 18 years.
| Vacation days | Previous service | Proposed service |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | 1–5 years | 1–5 years |
| 20 | 6–10 years | 6–10 years |
| 25 | 11–24 years | 11–18 years |
| 30 | 25+ years | 19+ years |
Health benefit co-pays for part-time workers would decrease from 30% to 25%.
The flex spending account would increase from $900 per year to $1000 per year for full-time workers and from $450 a year to $500 a year for part-time workers.
Boot allowance would increase from $200 to $250.
The workers’ bargaining team has scheduled an information session for this Thursday (26th) regarding the tentative agreement. Voting on the agreement will take place later.
Update (21 April 2026): According to the AUPE, 179 out of 257 workers participated in the ratification vote. Of those, 96.5% voted in favour of ratification.
