Eight test grievances scheduled for March
In Dec. 2020, AUPE members filed 732 grievances against discipline measures related to accusations of participating in an illegal work stoppage on Oct. 26. When we last updated you on the status of those grievances, they had advanced to arbitration.
Although the arbitration was scheduled for November, the Alberta Labour Relations Board (ALRB) granted the employer’s request that the hearing be postponed due to challenges presented by the Omicron wave of the pandemic. The arbitration is now scheduled for Mar. 24 – 31, 2022.
As explained in the last update, not all the individual cases will be heard at that time. Instead, as ordered by the ALRB, both AHS and AUPE have chosen one grievance to represent a one-day suspension, and one grievance to represent a letter-of-warning, from both Nursing Care and General Support Services. In total, this means that the arbitrator will be hearing eight grievances.
Once the arbitrator rules on the eight grievances, we will work with the affected members to assess whether to proceed with any of the remaining 724 grievances.
If your grievance was selected as one of the eight initial cases, then you have been, or will be, contacted by AUPE counsel.
There are grievances for one-day suspensions arising from the Oct. 26 events that are not included in this process. Those are scheduled to be heard by arbitrators in June and July.
We appreciate the enormous patience that members have shown through this long process. We understand that this process has been stressful and difficult, but we are inspired by your resolve to fight for the rights of yourselves and your co-workers.
We will update you further once the March hearings have concluded.