For immediate release: Apr. 24, 2003

EDMONTON – A provincially appointed mediator has recommended a significantly improved agreement for approximately 1,350 members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees who work at continuing-care facilities in Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge.

The proposal for a two-year agreement is superior to the "final offer" put forward in late March by the Continuing Care Employers Bargaining Association and overwhelmingly rejected in a vote by the AUPE members.

"Unlike the employer group’s so-called ‘final offer,’ this recommendation is essentially the same in most important respects as AUPE’s Multi-Facility Auxiliary Nursing Agreement," said AUPE President Dan MacLennan.

"AUPE took the position from the start that members who do the same kind of work in the same kinds of facilities should be treated the same way," MacLennan said. "This proposed agreement achieves that goal.

"In addition, all rollbacks sought by the employer in the ‘final offer’ have been removed from this report," he said.
The AUPE bargaining committee will recommend that members vote to ratify the improved settlement put forward by the mediator, said AUPE Union Representative Terry Agoto, who leads the union bargaining committee.

If the mediator’s recommendation is ratified by AUPE members and the employer bargaining group, it will form the basis of a new collective agreement between AUPE and CCEBA, Agoto said. In his report, the mediator strongly urged both parties to ratify the agreement.

The mediator’s recommendation includes:

• Pay increases of four per cent in the first year and three per cent in the second year.
  
• An education allowance across the grid for nursing attendants with certain certificates.
  
• A direct-payment health benefits card.
  
• Preceptor pay – a premium paid to licensed practical nurses who help train student LPN's.
  
• Double-time overtime.
  
• Increases in weekend premium pay and shift differential pay to $1.75 per hour.
  
• Removal from the table of all rollbacks sought by the employer in the "final offer."

Agoto said meetings will be held in Edmonton, Calgary and Lethbridge to give members an opportunity to ask questions and express their views on the mediator’s recommended settlement. Click here for details of meeting times and locations.

The AUPE members work as licensed practical nurses, personal care attendants, nursing attendants, physiotherapy attendants, recreation attendants, occupational therapy attendants and clinic attendants who come under the CCEBA agreement.

Their employers include the Capital Care Group, which is a subsidiary of the Capital Health Region, St. Joseph’s Auxiliary Hospital (Edmonton), St. Michael’s Long Term Care Centre (Edmonton), Bethany Care Society (Calgary), and St. Michael’s Health Centre (Lethbridge).

AUPE is Alberta’s largest union, with approximately 53,000 members.

For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-910-8392 (cellular phone)
Terry Agoto, Staff Negotiator, AUPE, 780-930 3309 or 780-720-2226 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)