EDMONTON – After three days of mediation, both the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees and the Provincial Health Authorities of Alberta have shown movement toward an agreement for a key group of 7,000 front-line health care workers.

AUPE has moved from its initial proposals and the PHAA, the employer bargaining group, has improved its offer to licensed practical nurses – who make up about one third of the health care workers who come under the Multi-Facility Agreement.

"We are making progress, and AUPE is pleased that the PHAA has shown some flexibility in this important round of negotiations," AUPE President Dan MacLennan said today.
However, MacLennan said, "we still have tough negotiating ahead of us.

"Still completely missing is movement by PHAA on pay increases for nursing attendants, who make up about two-thirds of this bargaining unit," said AUPE Union Representative Jim Petrie, who leads the union bargaining team.

"We have also seen no meaningful concessions from the PHAA on such important issues as shift differential pay," Petrie added.

MacLennan stated: "We’re pleased the PHAA has shown some willingness to compromise, but movement is still required before we can reach an agreement."

Both parties and the mediator are scheduled to meet again on Aug 27 and 28.
The progress so far shows that the process can work without resorting to compulsory arbitration, which the union believes is biased and unfair, MacLennan noted.

He said the union was pleased last week when the PHAA went on record opposing the use of compulsory arbitration in health sector contract negotiations.

In a news release published July 25 in response to a statement by another union that it was applying for binding arbitration in its negotiations with the PHAA, a spokesperson for the employer bargaining group stated that "we believe the best agreements are negotiated rather than imposed.
AUPE agrees with the view, MacLennan said.

"Behaviour by the PHAA in our negotiations for the Multi-Facility Agreement for LPNs, NAs and operating room technicians had suggested to us that the employers were trying to push AUPE toward an arbitrated settlement," he said.

That concern was raised, for example, when the PHAA applied for mediation last month in the bargaining for the Multi-Facility Agreement – a contract that has the potential to set important trends in other negotiations between AUPE and health sector employers.

"AUPE remains committed to negotiating a fair agreement for its members," MacLennan said. "We hope that the PHAA means what it says, that agreements should be negotiated, not imposed."

For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
Jim Petrie, Union Representative, AUPE, 780-930-3335 or 780-919-4415 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)

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