By Jon Olsen, Communications Staff
Everything is tough right now.
AUPE members face challenges at the bargaining table and financial pressures at the kitchen table. A lot of us are experiencing the same thing – what matters is what we do about it.
“AUPE members know we may need to strike this round of bargaining,” says AUPE Vice-President James Gault. “We have been pushed into a corner by the government. Now is the time to push our way out.”
Taking legal strike action is not something we can do whenever we feel like. Legal strikes can only be taken after exhausting our options at the bargaining table, which is often a long, complicated process.
A strike-focused website
The entire bargaining-to-strike process is now front-and-centre on AUPE’s newly designed website. It’s a change the union’s leadership knew members needed in 2025.
“Most of us have never been on strike before, but that might change,” says Gault. “We know members have lots of questions about going on strike, so that’s our focus moving forward.”
Members can see all these changes on the aupe.org home page. The same collection of resources can be found at aupe.org/strikehub.
The basic bargaining-to-strike timeline
Collective bargaining was set up to balance worker power with employer power. Over the years, new governments and new laws have shifted power away from the working class and back toward our employers.
These days, workers like us have lots of hurdles to jump over and hoops to jump through if we want to take legal strike action.
We have been pushed into a corner by the government. Now is the time to push our way out.
For many AUPE members, the biggest challenge is also the newest: negotiating an Essential Service Agreement (ESA).
An ESA decides who must keep working during a strike to protect lives, safety, and public health, as well as maintain the rule of law and public security.
Completing an ESA is a critical step in the bargaining process. An ESA must be completed before we can even apply for mediation – in other words, third-party help at the bargaining table.
If we can't reach an agreement with a mediator’s help, a 14-day cooling-off period begins.
We can then vote on whether we want to go on strike – but only after those two weeks have passed.
“We are all frustrated by how slow bargaining can be, but we must remain patient,” says Gault. “We can't rush these things, risk getting something wrong, or settle for a bad deal just because it takes time to settle it right.”
Using time to prepare
One advantage of a long bargaining process is it gives us time to prepare for job action.
Members have enthusiastically answered the call to be Strike Captains, with the first Strike Captain training courses already well underway.
We can also take direct action, without striking, in the meantime. Local 006 members have shown us how this is done recently with their disability services campaign.
We will win the wages and benefits we deserve with our strength, solidarity – and a little patience.
Our employers might think they are right to offer AUPE members bad deals at the table, but this is a miscalculation. Talk of a strike has grown the further we get in bargaining.
AUPE members are fed up and ready to fight for what we deserve. But if we’re going to do it, we must do it together. Now is the time to get organized.
“Our employers, and especially the government, want to divide us,” he says. “They know that our power comes from our united numbers, so we need to stand together – now more than ever.
“We will win the wages and benefits we deserve with our strength, solidarity – and a little patience.”
