For immediate release: Jan. 28, 2004

SPIRIT RIVER — General support service employees of the Spirit River Health Complex have ratified their first collective agreement, which will result in pay increases ranging from 3.75 per cent to seven per cent for the new members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.

The members of AUPE Local 056/0005 had been part of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta for only a short time before Bill 27 became law in March 2003.

HSAA had not had an opportunity to negotiate an agreement for the group when they became part of AUPE, said AUPE Union Representative Brian Randall, who negotiated the first agreement.

Randall explained that after negotiations with AUPE, the Peace Country Health Region agreed to include the Spirit River employees in its Rural General Support Agreement, which covers employees at several health region facilities in smaller communities.

As a result, many of the Spirit River AUPE members had their jobs reclassified, resulting in pay increases larger than the basic 3.75 per cent negotiated in the agreement, Randall said. All members of the group will receive retroactive pay to April 1, 2003.

“Our members in Spirit River had to vote to ratify because technically this is a first agreement for them,” Randall noted.

“These members are happy to have an enforceable agreement that puts them on an equal footing with all other unionized general support service employees of the health region,” Randal said. “They were also naturally very pleased to receive pay increases and retroactive pay.”

Spirit River is located 64 kilometres north of Grande Prairie and approximately 525 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.