Legacy Lodge staff ratify first collective agreement
LETHBRIDGE – More than 100 employees of Legacy Lodge Assisted Living in north Lethbridge have ratified a collective agreement that will see their wages and benefits brought up to the industry standard.
“It was some tough bargaining,” said Ken Cutrell, staff negotiator with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represents the workers. “But in the end, we got a settlement that’s fair.”
The 104-bed, privately run Legacy Lodge opened in 2010. At the time, its rates of pay were well below the industry standard. In 2011 the employees voted to join AUPE.
This is their first contract. The three-year deal, which runs until March 31, 2015, will bring the employees’ wages and benefits in line with those paid to Alberta Health Services employees doing the same job.
“Private operators receive a lot of taxpayer funding to run seniors facilities,” said AUPE President Guy Smith. “Part of this funding is to pay wages at the industry standard level. AUPE is committed to ensuring the front-line workers entrusted with providing care for Alberta’s elderly are fairly compensated.”
Smith commended Legacy Lodge’s operators, Choices in Community Living Inc., “for recognizing the contribution the staff make to the residents’ quality of life. Competitive wages and benefits are crucial to ensuring good quality of care.”
AUPE is Alberta’s largest union with 80,000 members in the public, not-for-profit and private sectors.
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For more information, contact:
Guy Smith, AUPE President: (780) 265-2294
Ken Cutrell, AUPE staff negotiator: (780) 217-1660
Andrew Hanon, AUPE communications: (780) 930-5218