General support services (GSS) employees at the St. Albert’s Youville Home could see a nine-per-cent wage increase if they vote in favour of a recent tentative agreement with their employer.
An agreement has been in the works for nearly a year after the previous agreement expired on April 1, 2011.
“Because Covenant Health is funded directly through Alberta Health Services, we couldn’t get anything done with them until our other bigger groups settled,” said Mac McNaughton, AUPE staff negotiator.
He said until AHS and general support services staff province wide could reach an agreement, Covenant Health employees had to wait it out. That agreement was reached in mid March.
The tentative agreement involving Youville is retroactive to April 1, 2011 and shows a three-per-cent wage increase for three years as well as increases to shift and weekend premiums, an increased health spending account and additional vacation days for long-time employees.
“I think everybody would like to see more than three per cent, but as it is, that’s the most we could bargain for,” said Mike Phillips, nutritional services worker at the Youville Home and member of the bargaining committee.
McNaughton said the agreement is “average,” adding it isn’t far from what the bargaining team was originally seeking.
The agreement affects roughly 500 housekeeping, laundry, dietary and clerical employees throughout the province, including roughly 200 at Youville Home.
Phillips said workers at the Youville Home are excited for the negotiating process to be over.
“We’re just glad that it’s finally over — it’s taken a year,” he said. “We finally got the chance to negotiate strictly with Covenant and not have to worry about anyone else. This is our first contract that we’ve been able to do that with.”
Information sessions will be held at various Covenant Health facilities throughout the province detailing the changes employees will face.
McNaughton said he would have liked to have seen this agreement made last year, although with hold ups dealing with AHS’s 22,000 GSS workers, the bargaining committee knew they would have to wait it out.
“I would have loved to have seen it done last year and had the wage increases in their pockets a year ago, but it’s not the way it worked out,” he said.
The committee is recommending employees vote in favour of the agreement, which will go to a vote May 18, with the count released to the public on May 22.
If the agreement is ratified, employees could expect to see their retroactive lump-sum cheques for wage increases by the end of May.
