Employer addresses key issues made in our previous counter-offer
Today (January 20, 2021), your Negotiating Team reached an agreement with the employers (Alberta Health Services, Lamont Health Care Centre, Allen Gray Continuing Care Centre) to suspend bargaining until March 31, 2021.
As you know, your negotiating team rejected an offer to suspend bargaining in October after the employer rejected our counteroffer. The employer has now made an offer that addresses key issues suggested in the counteroffer. Because these issues are now addressed, the MOA has been accepted by your negotiating team.
The Memorandum of Agreement includes job security to the end of March and provides for paid leave for members who were sick or forced to quarantine due to COVID-19 exposure. This paid leave, which will be retroactive to July 6, 2020, will not be available for members who are required to isolate following non-essential international travel.
Members will be entitled to leave without pay to fulfill family responsibilities (i.e. caring for ill or self-isolating family members or children affected by school and daycare closures). The employers also agreed to suspend the Attendance Awareness program until March 31, 2021.
The Memorandum of Agreement sets out a process by which Alberta Health Services may redeploy employees to sites owned or operated by other employers. As well, it provides an opportunity for Casual employees to convert to Temporary status and allows the employers to increase employees’ FTEs on a temporary basis with no requirement to post. Lastly, it provides for members attending vaccine appointments outside of their scheduled hours of work to be paid one hour at their regular rate of pay.
The Parties recognize that this is an unprecedented period of physical and psychological stress and as such all reasonable efforts will be made to grant requests for time away from the workplace for short periods such as ad hoc vacation, personal leave days, etc. in accordance with the Collective Agreement.
If your manager refuses to provide approval for any of the benefits provided by the Memorandum of Agreement, please contact one of your elected bargaining committee members at the email address provided below.
AHS Nursing Care Negotiating Team
Local 041
Christine Vavrik - rvavrik@shaw.ca
Myrna Wright (A) - merite77@shaw.ca
Local 043
Judy Fader - local4308@gmail.com
Marylou Savic (A) - marylousavic@yahoo.ca
Local 044
Brenda Bailer - brendabailer@gmail.com
Laurie Johnson (A) - rycehome5@gmail.com
Local 045
Nancy Burton - ndburton@hotmail.com
Brenda Marks (A) - bmarks23@yahoo.ca
Local 046
Dolline Osterlund - dollineo@gmail.com
Sandy Kyle (A) - sandyg.kyle@gmail.com
AUPE Resource Staff
Jason Rattray, Lead Negotiator - j.rattray@aupe.org
Chris Dickson, Negotiator – c.dickson@aupe.org
Darcy Thiessen, Organizer - d.thiessen@aupe.org
Farid Iskandar, Organizer - f.iskandar@aupe.org
Kate Jacobson, Organizer - k.jacobson@aupe.org
Mimi Williams, Communications - m.williams@aupe.org