Last week, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees published an update on their website regarding contract negotiations for workers employed by Olds College.
As of their last contract, which expired in June 2024, the AUPE represented about 140 non-academic workers at the college, including administrative assistants, building operators, caretakers, analysts, clerks, equipment operators, library workers, technicians, and trades workers.
Despite the most recent collective agreement for these workers expiring nearly 2 years ago, the two parties did not begin bargaining on the next contract until towards the end of April 2025.
The workers, as part of their initial proposal, asked for a 24% raise over 4 years.
Now, that might seem like a lot, but take a look at their wage increases over the last two collective agreements.
| 1 July 2017 | 0.00% |
| 1 July 2018 | 0.00% |
| 1 July 2019 | 0.00% |
| 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% |
These workers got 6 years in a row of wage freezes!
Meanwhile, between 1 July 2016—the last time they got a raise prior to the wage freezes—and 1 July 2023, the consumer price index in Alberta increased from 135.6 to 166.0, a jump of 30.4 points.
In other words, inflation increased by 22.42%!
And Olds College decided—with undue pressure from the UCP government, I’m sure, since they were setting 2.75% increases on other public sector employers—that a 2.75% increase would somehow make up for inflation that was almost 10 times that amount.
No wonder the workers are asking for 24%.
Now, keep in mind, that would barely make up for the wage freezes, leaving roughly only 2% to cover inflation in the last year of their previous contract and inflation over the 4 years of a new contract.
At this point, you might be asking, “So, what did the employer offer?”
Well, get this: they offered 7.5% over 4 years.
Clearly, there is a significant gap between 7.5% and 24%. The two parties could not reach an agreement on their own, so they went to mediation.
With the help of that mediator, the bargaining teams reached a tentative agreement, which includes an unsurprising 12% over 4 years.
| 1 July 2024* | 3.00% |
| 1 July 2025* | 3.00% |
| 1 July 2026 | 3.00% |
| 1 July 2027 | 3.00% |
I say unsurprising because 3% annual raises is what nearly every public sector employer has been offering for over the last year and a half, more or less.
This is what the Provincial Bargaining and Compensation Office is forcing on public sector employers. They had been mandating 7.50% over 4 years until educational support workers went on strike in the last quarter of 2024 and the first quarter of 2025, forcing them to increase the mandate by 60%.
While 12% is significantly more than what Old College originally offered, it is only half of what the workers tabled. And it falls short of covering the 19.17% loss to real wages over their last two contracts.
That is not even considering inflation during their new collective agreement, either.
Annual increases are not the only changes to wages in the proposed agreement.
For example, Olds College has agreed to eliminate the first two steps in the wage grid for first-level clerk positions or first-level clerk typist positions, which would bump up anyone in those wage ranges into the third step, giving them an additional wage increase.
First-level service workers in the first step of their wage grid would be automatically be bumped up to the second step.
As well, the shift differential would increase 30¢, from $1.10 an hour to $1.40 an hour.
The health spending account would increase $125, from $750 to $875 per year. This would not kick in until July of next year, however, which would basically be just the final year of the contract.
Personal leave would increase from 3 days per year to 4 days per year.
In the event of layoffs, severance under the proposed agreement would increase from 1.5 weeks per year of service to 2 weeks per year of service.
As well, workers who have been with Olds College for less than 5 years would get a layoff notice of only 45 working days. Currently, all workers get 90 working days notice.
The bargaining team plans to hold an information session on campus during the noon hour today to explain the tentative agreement and answer questions workers may have.
The ratification vote will begin at 09:00 on the 11th and end at midnight on the 14th/15th.
