AUPE and Alberta Research Council reach tentative agreement; ratification vote set for July 12
EDMONTON – Negotiators for AUPE and the Alberta Research Council today reached a tentative agreement that includes pay increases of at least 11.25 per cent over three years, plus improved benefits and a fairer formula for determining employees’ compensation.
If the tentative agreement is ratified by members of AUPE Local 060 in workplace voting scheduled to take place on July 12, the approximately 250 research technicians and administrative support employees will receive a minimum pay increase of 3.5 per cent in the first year, retroactive to April 1, 2006.
Some employees will receive additional increases that will raise their pay in the agreement’s first year from 4.5 to 6 per cent, said AUPE Union Representative Malcolm McNaughton, who led the union bargaining committee.
In the second year of the agreement, all employees will receive an across-the-board pay increase of 3.75 per cent, followed by an increase of 4 per cent in the final year, which expires on March 31, 2009, McNaughton said.
The agreement also includes better contract language dealing with leave to take care of a relative who is terminally ill, plus an increase in both shift and weekend differential pay to $1.75 per hour, he added.
The employer also agreed to implement a fair pay grid that means all employees will advance through 10 steps from their starting rate to the top rate for their job category. Employees’ pay will increase 3 per cent at each step of the grid.
“By adopting a fair pay grid, the Alberta Research Council has recognized that its employees do important and valuable work, and this employer has also moved to address recruitment and retention challenges it faces in our province’s booming economy,” McNaughton said.
Worksite information meetings will be held on July 10 and July 11 at the Research Council’s facilities in Edmonton, Calgary, Vegreville and Devon. Precise times and locations at those facilities will be announced to Local 060 members as soon as possible.
The Alberta Research Council is a not-for-profit research and development corporation wholly owned by the province of Alberta to develop and commercialize technology with the aim of creating marketable products and services.