Venta Care Centre ANC employees ratify four-year agreement
EDMONTON – AUPE members employed at the Edmonton Venta Care Centre have ratified a three-year collective agreement that mirrors most improvements in the contracts ratified last fall between the union and health region employers.
“This is a good agreement with significant improvements based on the pattern set in AUPE’s negotiations with the province’s largest health sector employers last year,” said Staff Negotiator Ken Cutrell, who led the Local 047/022 bargaining committee.
“It is significant and positive that smaller private-sector health sector employers like Venta are signing contracts that give their employees similar benefits and wages to those negotiated with big public employers,” he said.
Local 047/022 represents approximately 115 Auxiliary Nursing Care (ANC) employees at the privately owned Edmonton continuing care facility.
Last fall’s multi-employer ANC agreement between AUPE and Alberta’s health regions included general pay increases of 5 per cent in the first year, 5 per cent in the second year, 4.5 per cent or the Alberta Average Weekly Earnings (whichever is higher) in the third year, and 4.5 per cent or the Alberta Average Weekly Earnings (whichever is higher) in the fourth year.
The new agreement with Venta gives ANC employees at the Edmonton facility the same pay rates in all job categories.
Venta employees voted to join AUPE in 2003.