In the August 2025 Bargaining Update released earlier this month, Alberta’s jobs, economy, trade, and immigration ministry indicated that a new collective agreement for municipal workers in Thornhild County had been reached.
Settled on 6 July 2025, the new agreement is between Thorhild County and Local 955 of the International Union of Operating Engineers, otherwise known as IUOE.
IUOE 955 was negotiating on behalf of about 50 municipal workers employed by Thorhild County, including equipment operators, bus drivers, ski instructors, cooks, lifeguards, swim instructors, wastewater workers, gasfitters, maintenance workers, and labourers.
The new 3-year agreement replaces the previous agreement, which does not expire until the end of this year. The new agreement takes effect at the beginning of 2026 and expires at the end of 2028. Their last two agreements were each only 2 years long.
Workers covered by this new agreement can expect to see 3 wage increases during the life of the contract.
| 1 January 2026 | 2.00% |
| 1 January 2027 | 2.50% |
| 1 January 2028 | 3.50% |
That’s a combined total increase of 8%, or an average annual increase of 2.67%. In their current contract, they got 3% last year and 2% this year. The collective agreement prior to that one gave them 1% in each of the two years of the contract. And they got 2% once in the contract before that.
Here is a look at raises over the last 3 collective agreements.
| 1 January 2018 | 2.00% |
| 1 January 2019 | 0.00% |
| 1 January 2020 | 0.00% |
| 1 January 2021 | 2.00% |
| 1 January 2022 | 1.00% |
| 1 January 2023 | 1.00% |
| 1 January 2024 | 3.00% |
| 1 January 2025 | 2.00% |
Over the course of these 3 collective agreements, these workers saw a collective increase of 11%.
Between January 2017 (the last raise before this set of increases) and January 2025, the consumer price index in Alberta changed from 137.0 to 170.1, a jump of 33.1 points, or 24.16%.
So, while these workers were getting a collective wage increase of 11%, which included 3 years of wage freezes, inflation shot up by more than twice that rate.
That left these workers with a cut to real wages of 13.16%. Thorhild County should have been offering them 13% in the first year of the new contract, not 2%. And that is just to make up for lost wages.
Even if we add up all 3 of the wage increases scheduled in the new collective agreement, it would still leave these workers with a real wage cut of 5.16%.
And remember, that 11% increase in the new contract is spread out over 3 years, which means we would end up with 3 more years of inflation, further driving up the real wage cut.
Here are some highlights of other changes in the new collective agreement.
A new clause was added to the agreement to protect full-time workers from job loss due to contracting-out of labour.
8.08 The parties agree that no full-time employees shall lose regular hours of work, be laid off, or to be terminated as a result of contracting-out during the life of this collective agreement. This does not preclude the employer from contracting out work where necessary, provided such action does not result in the aforementioned impact on employees.
Workers can now choose to have their banked overtime paid out, either in part or in full.
Temporary workers can progress to the next step in the salary grid once they accumulate 1,900 hours worked. The new collective agreement clarifies that these are cumulative hours and are based on whether such workers return to the same position each consecutive year.
The following clause was removed:
When Water/Wastewater Level 1 or Gas Fitter employees are on standby and are called into work and the employee has not already worked a shift for the Employer on that day, the employee will be paid a minimum of 2 hours at the regular rate. If such employee receives a second call to work within the foregoing 2-hour period, the employee will not receive any additional compensation unless the total time worked exceeds 2 hours. In such event, the employee will be compensated for the total hours worked at the regular rate. An employee does not receive the foregoing callout premium and statutory holiday day premium in Clause 16:04 at the same time.
The following clause was added:
When employees are on standby and are called into work and the employee has not already worked a shift for the Employer on that day, the employee will be paid a minimum of 3 hours at the regular rate. If such employee receives a second call to work within the foregoing 3-hour period, the employee will not receive any additional compensation unless the total time worked exceeds 3 hours. In such event, the employee will be compensated for the total hours worked at the regular rate. An employee does not receive the foregoing callout premium and statutory holiday day premium in Clause 16:03 at the same time.
This clause was also added:
Any Water and Wastewater employee who performs work but is not required to travel to a worksite will be entitled to claim a minimum of 1 hour of call out paid at applicable overtime rate. Where an employee is called to perform work without travel more than once in the same 1-hour period they shall not receive additional compensation until their cumulative call out time worked exceeds 1 hour at which point they are entitled to claim actual time worked. In the event of any subsequent call outs on the same day, actual time worked shall be claimed. Call out may be paid or banked.
A power allowance was added to the collective agreement for grader operators who must plug in a grader at their premises. It will be paid out at $65 a month for each month between November and March and will not exceed a combined $325 for the 5-month period.
Under the current agreement, workers accrued sick leave and family sick leave after completing their probationary period. They have removed that requirement in the new agreement.
The boot allowance has increased from $300 to $325 a year. As well, the employer may now pay the boot allowance in a lump sum or in monthly instalments. As well, the boot allowance will be prorated for a partial year of service, which was not the case in the previous agreement.
An even larger increase will be coming to the tool allowance for tradespersons and apprentices, increasing from $750 per calendar year to $800 per calendar year.
Related to that, the following clause was added:
All Tradespersons and Apprentices who are required to provide their own tools, must keep an up-to-date inventory of tools for insurance purposes. The Employer shall insure the tool inventory values as submitted against fire and/or theft.
As of 1 January 2028, the employer’s contribution for the IUOE’s pension trust plan will increase from 10% of straight-time earnings to 10.5%. According to an email Trevor Hansen, a business agent with IUOE 955, sent to The Alberta Worker, this “represents compensatory increase to the membership, one that the members requested to increase their retirement benefits”.
