AUPE members at ATB Financial ratify new agreement with 10% pay increase over two years
EDMONTON – Members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees who work for ATB Financial branches throughout Alberta have strongly ratified a new collective agreement that includes pay increases of 10 per cent over two years.
The agreement between AUPE Local 020 and the Alberta-based financial institution also includes significant improvements in the allowances paid to employees who work in high-cost areas of northern Alberta, said AUPE Staff Negotiator Steve Nimchuk.
Under the two-year agreement, which is effective from April 1, 2007, to March 30, 2009, AUPE Local 020’s approximately 1,700 members will receive a pay increase of 5 per cent in each year of the contract.
Members can expect to receive retroactive pay for the period from April 1, 2007, on Sept. 20, Nimchuk said.
He noted that the agreement includes an increase to $550 per month from $400 in the northern allowance for employees who live north of the 57th Parallel.
In addition, Nimchuk said, the allowance for Local 020 members who reside in Fort McMurray rises to $1,040 from $400. The agreement continues the $400 allowance for employees who work in Canmore and Banff.
“This agreement means that ATB Financial employees continue to be in a very good position relative to employees of other financial institutions, the vast majority of whom do not have union representation,” said Nimchuk, who led the local’s bargaining committee.
ATB Financial, formerly known as Alberta Treasury Branches, is the largest financial institution based in Alberta. It serves more than 600,000 customers in 244 communities through 155 branches and 134 agencies.
AUPE is Alberta’s largest union, with more than 64,000 members.