Supportive living workers in northern Alberta ratify new agreement
PEACE RIVER – Members of one of AUPE’s smallest bargaining units, employees of Accredited Supportive Living Services Ltd., have ratified a one-year collective agreement that includes pay increases of 3 to 15 per cent.
The approximately 45 members of AUPE Local 047/013 care for people with mental and physical disabilities in group homes and family homes in Peace River, Grimshaw, Grande Prairie, High Level, La Crete and Grande Cache.
Members voted at their worksites this week.
In addition to pay increases, the new agreement includes other improvements, said AUPE Union Representative Brian Randall, who led the union bargaining team. These include:
- Increases in shift differential and weekend differential pay to $1.75 per hour.
- Change in the employee benefits plan to 100-per-cent employer paid.
As many as 7,000 people in Alberta do similar home-care work for independent supportive-living contractors, most of them poorly paid and without the benefit of union membership, Randall said.
“These working people deserve fair pay and benefits for the important work they do,” he said. “To achieve that goal, the province needs to provide adequate funding for the services they provide to dependent adults in Alberta.”
Accredited Supportive Living Services Ltd. was previously known as the North Peace Community Living Society.
For more information, contact:
Dan MacLennan, President, AUPE, 780-930-3301 or 780-232-8392 (cellular phone)
Brian Randall, Union Representative, AUPE, 780-624-7677 or 780-618-8214 (cellular phone)
David Climenhaga, Communications Director, AUPE, 780-930-3311 or 780-717-2943 (cellular phone)