Last week, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees published an update regarding contract negotiations for workers employed by Medicine Hat College.
AUPE represents over 100 non-teaching workers at the college. They are employed in a wide variety of positions, including those working in food services, building services, campus life, shipping and receiving, accounting, labs, recreation and athletics, IT, facilities maintenance and operations, marketing, and student services.
Their most recent collective agreement expired in June 2024, nearly 2 years ago. Bargaining on a new agreement did not begin until the following September.
Medicine Hat College, unlike other public sector employers, included a 12% wage increase over 4 years in their initial wage offer tabled in December 2025.
Public sector employers, for the last year and a half or so, have been tabling much smaller increases, which are then countered by much larger increases, only to nearly always landing on 12% over 4 years.
The college seemed intent on avoiding all that and just proposing right from the start the offer mandated by the Provincial Bargaining and Compensation Office.
After more negotiating this past January, the bargaining team met with the workers at a town hall in March to update them on the process and get direction on how to proceed.
Based on the feedback from that meeting, the workers’ bargaining team proposed a new wage offer to Medicine Hat College. In addition to 12% over 4 years, they wanted a 2% market adjustment increase, which the employer rejected.
So, they countered with another proposal: eliminating the first step in the wage grid and adding a new fifth step. This would give an immediate raise to anyone in the first step and will allow anyone in the fourth step to increase their maximum income, affecting only a half dozen or so workers.
At a meeting on the 14th last month, the college told the workers’s bargaining team—which includes a simulation technologist, a records clerk, and an information technologist—that the PBCO rejected that proposal.
Which is weird, given that the workers are bargaining with the college, their actual employer, and not the PBCO.
As a result, the bargaining team for the workers felt that negotiations had reached an impasse and intended to apply for mediation. However, that seemed to motivate Medicine Hat College, and they offered to come back to the table to “get a quick resolution . . . rather than go into formal mediation”.
And that is what they did.
On the 24th, the workers’ bargaining team announced that they had reached a tentative deal with the college.
It included a 12% wage increase over 4 years, as expected, but there was also a 2% increase for workers who had been with Medicine Hat College for over 20 years. The first two wage increases will be retroactive.
Keep in mind that while 12% might seem significant, these workers have dealt with years of wage freezes leading up to negotiations.
| 1 July 2017 | 0.00% |
| 1 July 2018 | 0.00% |
| 1 July 2019 | 1.00% |
| 1 July 2020 | 0.00% |
| 1 July 2021 | 0.00% |
| 1 July 2022 | 0.00% |
| 1 April 2023 | 1.25% |
| 1 December 2023 | 1.50% |
| 3.75% |
In addition, the starting wage for several positions is still less than $20.00 an hour.
However, the two parties had agreed to proposed market adjustments for several job classifications.
| Old | New | Change | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start | Job | Start | Job | Start | Job | |
| Building Service Worker I | $15.69 | $17.17 | $18.03 | $19.60 | 14.91% | 14.15% |
| Food Service Worker I | $15.69 | $17.17 | $18.03 | $19.60 | 14.91% | 14.15% |
| Model | $15.69 | $17.17 | $18.03 | $19.60 | 14.91% | 14.15% |
| Recreational Assistant I | $15.69 | $17.17 | $18.03 | $19.60 | 14.91% | 14.15% |
| Building Service Worker II | $16.99 | $18.48 | $19.43 | $21.21 | 14.36% | 14.77% |
| Office Assistant I | $15.69 | $17.17 | $19.43 | $21.21 | 23.84% | 23.53% |
| Recreational Assistant II | $16.99 | $18.48 | $19.43 | $21.21 | 14.36% | 14.77% |
| Teacher Aide I | $16.99 | $18.48 | $19.43 | $21.21 | 14.36% | 14.77% |
| Building Service Worker III | $18.31 | $19.99 | $20.82 | $22.72 | 13.71% | 13.66% |
| Cashier | $18.31 | $19.99 | $20.82 | $22.72 | 13.71% | 13.66% |
| Office Assistant II (was III) | $18.31 | $19.99 | $20.82 | $22.72 | 13.71% | 13.66% |
| Program Assistant | $18.31 | $19.99 | $20.82 | $22.72 | 13.71% | 13.66% |
| Accessibility Services Assistant | $19.62 | $21.42 | $22.20 | $25.00 | 13.15% | 16.71% |
| Cook I | $16.99 | $18.48 | $22.20 | $25.00 | 30.67% | 35.28% |
| Food Services Assistant II (was III) | $19.62 | $21.42 | $22.20 | $25.00 | 13.15% | 16.71% |
| Office Assistant III (was IV) | $19.62 | $21.42 | $22.20 | $25.00 | 13.15% | 16.71% |
| Shipper/Receiver | $19.62 | $21.42 | $22.20 | $25.00 | 13.15% | 16.71% |
| Administrative Assistant I | $20.92 | $23.56 | $23.64 | $26.63 | 13.00% | 13.03% |
| Duplicating Operator | $20.92 | $23.56 | $23.64 | $26.63 | 13.00% | 13.03% |
| Cook II | $16.99 | $18.48 | $23.64 | $26.63 | 39.14% | 44.10% |
| Library Assistant I | $20.92 | $23.56 | $23.64 | $26.63 | 13.00% | 13.03% |
| Student Services Assistant I | $20.92 | $23.56 | $23.64 | $26.63 | 13.00% | 13.03% |
The cook position has been split into two classifications.
Here are some other changes to the collective agreement.
The health and wellness spending account has increased from $850 a year to $900 a year.
As well, theer is now $1,500 per year to use with medical practitioers, and there is no longer a $30-per-visit cap nor a 20-visit cap.
Coverage for psychology/social worker has changed from a $20 per visit cap and a maximum annual amount of $100 to an annual maximum of $1,000 and no per visit cap.
The shift differential has increased by 25¢ per hour, from $1.50 per hour to $1.75 per hour.
Vision coverage has improved. Under the old collective agreement, it was $70 for eye exams every two years. Now, it is $100 every two years.
Temporary workers now get illness leave. It amounts to 0.83 days per month worked, to a maximum of 10 days.
The bargaining team held a town hall on 6 May to provide more information on the tentative agreement and answer question from workers.
In last week’s update, the bargaining team announced that the workers voted on the tentative agreement. Of those who participated in the vote, 90% voted to ratify the new agreement.
