ATHABASCA – The 56-day strike by personal care attendants, care aides and licensed practical nurses at the Extendicare (Canada) Inc. continuing care facility in Athabasca has ended with significant gains for the strikers, including a pay increase of nearly 30 per cent over the life of the contract.

The 32 women, members of Alberta Union of Provincial Employees Local 2424/009, overwhelmingly ratified the new agreement, which expires in June 2004, Monday evening.

They took strike action on Feb. 11 after months of negotiations had proved fruitless and after going without a raise since 1998.

"This is a very important victory for a courageous group of women who took on a major multinational corporation and won for themselves a solid, fair contract," said AUPE President Dan MacLennan after the vote.

"Our members had the strength and solidarity to spend weeks on the picket line in bitter cold," MacLennan said. "But in the end this resulted in a fair collective agreement and paves the way for a more positive working relationship with this employer in the future."

"We are proud of our members for working so hard to get an honourable settlement," he said.

A key issue in the strike was parity with other Extendicare employees at similar facilities in nearby communities and other health care workers doing similar work in the town of Athabasca, said AUPE Union Representative Steve Nimchuk, who led the negotiations.

This agreement meets that goal, and at times during the life of the agreement exceeds it, Nimchuk said.

The nursing home’s care aides and personal care aides will receive a 5 per cent pay increase retroactive to July 1, 2000, another 5 per cent retroactive to July 1, 2001, Nimchuk said. They will then receive another 6 per cent on Jan. 1, 2002, another 8 per cent on July 1, 2002 and another 4 per cent on July 1, 2003.

LPNs at the nursing home will receive a four-per-cent retroactive pay increases on April 1, 2001, and Aug. 1, 2001, and the employer has agreed to then pay them the same rate received by LPNs in AUPE’s Multi-Facility Agreement negotiations with the provincial health Authorities of Alberta, which are now under way.

"As of this July, that gives us the parity in wages that we were seeking," Nimchuk said.

In addition, the agreement retained an additional, higher pay category for employees with certification that the employer had tried to eliminate.

Other improvements in the collective agreement include:

" A retention bonus of 47 cents per hour to make up for being behind for six months between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2001. " A weekend premium rising to 50 cents per hour in 2003. There had been none in the old contract. " Improvements in overtime pay, including double overtime after four hours of overtime and for full-time staff required to work on a second day of rest. " Complete employer-paid single premium coverage for full-time employees for Alberta health care and Alberta Blue Cross, effective May 2002.

"These women fought very hard for a pay increase of close to 30 per cent over the life of this agreement," Nimchuk said. "They also earned dignity and respect from their employer."

During the strike, AUPE local 2424/009 members maintained a picket line at the nursing home in the town of Athabasca, held an information picket at Ontario-based Extendicare’s regional headquarters in Edmonton, and made a presentation to the Aspen Regional Health Authority, for which Extendicare operates the facility.

AUPE also ran a series of radio advertisements to press Extendicare to reach a fair agreement.

"Pressure on Extendicare and the health region, along with family and community support in Athabasca, helped bring this strike to an end," MacLennan said.

"Our members can return to work with their heads held high and continue to provide the valuable service they give the residents in Athabasca," he concluded.


For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
Steve Nimchuk, Union Representative, AUPE, 780-930-3341 or 780-919-4831 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)

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