Earlier this week, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees published an update regarding contract negotiations for workers employed by the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology.
AUPE represents around 500 workers employed by SAIT in a wide variety of positions, including accountants, clerks, administrative assistants, artists, equipment operators, camp workers, caretakers, cashiers, cooks, customer service reps, lab technologists, technicians, information officers, photographers, nurses, postal clerks, and those working in camps, IT, the library, maintenance, new media, OH&S, and stores.
Their most recent collective agreement expired almost two years ago, at the end of June 2024.
According to AUPE’s update, the bargaining team for the workers have reached a tentative agreement with SAIT.
The proposed agreement includes the same wage increases that most public sector workers have been getting over the last year or so in their new collective agreements: 3% per year.
| 1 July 2024* | 3.00% |
| 1 July 2025* | 3.00% |
| 1 July 2026 | 3.00% |
| 1 July 2027 | 3.00% |
This is what SAIT offered back in September of last year, and the bargaining team told workers then that they “need a deal that works for us” and that the proposed deal “does not align with realities in post-secondary education”.
Yet, here we are, presenting the same wage increase offer to the workers that SAIT originally tabled nearly a year ago.
The first two years would be retroactive, as indicated above. They would apply to anyone who was employed at those times, including the 85 workers who have lost their jobs since the last contract expired.
The proposed agreement would also increase the health spending account by $200, raising it from $800 a year to $1000 a year, effective as of next month.
Personal leave would increase from 2 days per year to 3 days per year.
Annual vacation leave, which is based on years of service, has been updated to kick in a year earlier for some workers.
| Vacation leave | Years of service (old) | Years of service (new) |
|---|---|---|
| 15 days | 1–5 years | 1–5 years |
| 20 days | 5–13 years | 5–12 years |
| 25 days | 13–21 years | 12–20 years |
| 30 days | 21–30 years | 20–29 years |
| 35 days | 30+ years | 29+ years |
The tentative agreement also includes a dedicated discrimination and harassment article, something that had been missing.
Two virtual meetings will occur today (one at noon, and one at 19:00), during which the bargaining committee will explain the tentative agreement and answer questions from the workers.
The ratification vote will begin on 11 June and end on 15 June.
If a majority of workers reject the agreement, the bargaining committee would have to return to negotiations and tell SAIT that this was not what the workers wanted.
