In February, the Mediation Services department of Alberta Jobs, Economy, and Trade published the January 2025 Bargaining Update.
This monthly report provides information about the unionized workforce, primarily in Alberta. In January, Mediation Services received settlement information regarding 28 private sector and 11 public sector bargaining settlements, covering 4,351 and 944 workers respectively.
Among those settlements was a contract for 7 workers employed by The Salvation Army at their recycling centre in Calgary.
The workers in this collective agreement are all those employed at the centre except those working in office, clerical, or retail sales positions.
These include primarily truck drivers and dock workers. They’re represented by Local 362 of the General Teamsters.
The previous contract for these workers expired in August 2024. The new contract was settled in October 2024, 2 months later; although Mediation Services only recently received their copy.
The new collective agreement is for just 4 years expiring in August 2028. This is longer than their last agreement, which was for only 3 years.
The workers are set to receive wage increases in every year of their new contract.
| Ratification | 75¢ |
| 1 September 2025 | 2.75% |
| 1 September 2026 | 2.50% |
| 1 September 2027 | 3.00% |
This combined increase works out to 12.31% on the starting wage for truck drivers and 13.08% on dock workers’ starting wage over the life of the collective agreement. The annual average increase is 3.08% and 3.27%, respectively.
By comparison, their fellow workers at the Edmonton distribution, who recently unionized with Local 362 last summer, got 6.9% over 3 years in their first contract, averaging 2.3% per year.
The last contract for the Calgary recycling centre workers gave them a 6.1% increase over 3 years.
With the increases from last year, this year, and the final two years of the contract, dock workers will have a starting wage of above $20 an hour. Truck drivers surpassed the $20 mark for the first time in the last contract.
Here are some changes between the the new collective agreement and their previous one.
The following two clauses were added to the article on contracting out:
If a temporary worker has completed 3 months or 500 hours, they will be offered a regular position. The time worked will be counted towards their probationary period.
The company and the union will meet quarterly to review temporary staff usage and to put actions in place to minimize the use of temporary workers.
The following statement was removed from the article on union representation:
The employer shall not be required to recognize more than 1 shop steward.
In contrast, this clause was added to the same article:
The employer will maintain the regular wages for 2 bargaining unit employees to attend and participate in negotiations and include 2 days of pre-bargaining meeting.
The following was added to the clause on the boot allowance (the amount of which stayed the same):
Provided the receipt is given prior to payroll cut off, employees will be reimbursed on the next pay period following the presentation of a receipt.
Another clause was added to the same article on safety condition, reading as follows:
The employees will report all safety and/or mechanical issues or defects on the equipment. The company will fix all reported issues as soon as possible, and lock out-replace equipment that has major defects reported. The company will not require employees to do work or operate equipment they’ve not the appropriate training for.
The following were added to the article on pay and work conditions:
13.21 When the employer corrects a pay error, the employee if required will receive an explanation from their manager.
13.22 When an employee is required, after managers approval, to pay for an expense out of pocket related to the execution of their duties, they will be reimbursed within 3 business days once they provide a receipt. Failure to reimburse the employee will constitute a pay error.
13.23 The company will ensure that lunchroom and washroom facilities, comply with all Alberta labour law, Alberta health standards and occupational health and safety rules and regulations.
13.24 The company will provide cleaning equipment and materials for the trucks and warehouse.
13.25 When required by the employer training or courses will be paid at the applicable rate of pay.
In the previous contract, full-time workers were entitled to 2 weeks of vacation after they had been with the employer for 1 year. That has been increased to 3 weeks in the new contract. As well, these workers will qualify for 5 weeks of vacation after 14 years of employment instead of 15 years.
The article on health and welfare has been amended with this new addition:
The employer has the right to change benefits provider, from time to time and at its discretion, while ensuring that the benefits provided remain consistent and are no less than what was already in place.
Workers will now be able to use 3 of their accrued sick days for personal day, as per the following addition to the sick leave article:
Employees can use up to 3 of their accrued sick days per year for personal days. These days should be used in 4 hours or a full-day increment. Personal days can be used for:
- Take care of health obligations for any member of your family or care for them
- Take care of obligations related to the education of any family member under age 18
- Manage any urgent situation that concerns them or a family member
The following was added to the article on discipline and discharge:
Any document or discipline that is to be included in an employee’s work file must be served within 10 days from the date of discovery of the occurrence, failure to do so will result in the discipline being null and void.
In certain circumstances, the company may request an extension to complete the investigation and the union will not unreasonably deny such a request.
If the company becomes aware of circumstances that will result in a disciplinary response while an employee is absent from work, then the discipline will be given out on the first day the employee is actively at work.
They also adjusted language throughout the contract to be neutral (changing his to their, etc.)
