For immediate release: Thursday, June 24, 2004

DRAYTON VALLEY — Members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees who work for the Brazeau Seniors Foundation Lodge have overwhelmingly ratified a three-year agreement giving them pay increases of 3.5 per cent in the first year, 3 per cent in the second and 3 per cent in the third.

Members of Local 047/001 voted Tuesday on a tentative agreement that was signed in Drayton Valley on June 11.

“This was seen as an excellent collective agreement by this group of health care workers, as the overwhelming nature of their ratification vote clearly shows,” said AUPE Staff Negotiator Wayne Trimble, who led the union bargaining team.

The agreement also includes improvements in shift differential premiums and sick-leave provisions for part-time employees, Trimble said

In addition, the deal includes a provision under which the facility’s maintenance worker will receive $400 per month plus mileage for the use of his own truck at work.

“This collective agreement clearly demonstrates once again that health care workers in small facilities as well as large ones can make important gains through their membership in AUPE,” Trimble said.

Approximately 35 AUPE members work at the seniors’ continuing-care facility in Drayton Valley.

For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-232-8392 (cellular phone)
Wayne Trimble, Union Representative, AUPE, 780-672-8877 or 780679-5734 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)