While browsing the collective bargaining agreements database maintained by Alberta Mediation Services, I came across a new collective agreement for operating engineers in Edmonton.
These 8 operating engineers are employed by CART Construction Inc. to provide maintenance and repair work at the Northwest Refinery, also known as the Sturgeon Refinery.
They are members of Local 955 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, otherwise known as just IUOE.
Operating engineers include operators of such equipment as cranes, piledrivers, boring machines, sidebooms, hydrovacs, concrete pump trucks, crawler tractors, forklifts, and dump trucks. It also includes machinists, mechanics, welders, and assistants.
Their previous collective agreement expired this past Wednesday, but they ratified their new collective agreement earlier last month.
Workers can expect to see 3 wage increases over the life of the new 2-year agreement.
| 1 July 2026 | 4.00% |
| 1 January 2027 | 3.00% |
| 31 December 2027 | 1.50% |
This works out to a combined increase of 8.5%, or an average of 4.25% per year.
In their last collective agreement, which was 3 years long, they received 12%, which worked out to 4% per year on average.
With these new annual raises, by the time this contract expires by the end of next year, no workers should be making less than $38 an hour.
Here are some other changes in the new collective agreement.
The following clause was removed from the agreement:
All time worked before or after the established work day of 8 hours, Monday through Friday, and all time worked on Saturdays, Sundays and recognized holidays, as listed in Article 16:00 of the Agreement shall be paid for at time and one half.
The following clause was added to the agreement:
9/80 Schedule will be used for Maintenance and pre-shutdown activities only. 9/80 schedule is not suitable for use during shutdown turnarounds. Changes to schedule will be announced at least 3 (Three) days prior to effective change date.
The meal allowance for those working overtime and whose total work hours reaches at least 12 hours has increased from $40 to $50.
Statutory holiday pay has increased from 4.0% of base rate to 4.4% of base rate.
Several employer contributions will increase during the next collective agreement.
| Old | 1 Jul 2026 | 1 Jan 2027 | 31 Dec 2027 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Health & wellness | $2.30 | $2.30 | $2.40 | $2.45 |
| Pension | $5.00 | $6.00 | $6.50 | $7.00 |
| Training | $0.35 | $0.40 | $0.40 | $0.40 |
In addition, holiday and vacation pay will increase by 11.4% over the life of the contract, going from between $4.09 per hour and $5.63 an hour (depending on position) at the end of their last contract to between $4.43 an hour and $6.17 an hour by the end of this contract.
The new collective agreement introduces employer contributions into the Operating Engineers Advancement Fund, which will be 2¢ an hour for each hour worked by each worker.
