Alberta nurses reach last-minute tentative deal to avoid strike

With a minute left before nurses across Alberta were set to go on strike, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) reached a tentative deal with the provincial government.

”It’s been grueling. It’s been frustrating at times, because we sometimes don’t know who we’re bargaining with, so calls need to be made to get authorization,” said Sanda Azocar, AUPE president, at a press conference in Edmonton.

Azocar said negotiations would last most days until 11 p.m., but Friday’s lasted until 1 o’clock Saturday morning. She said the final call from the province came in Saturday morning, moments before the 8:30 a.m. strike deadline.

”This deal may not include 100 per cent of what we asked for, but it sets a new standard in health care and more broadly in the labor movement,” said Azocar.

After almost 20 months of negotiations, in the final days leading up to the deal, 98 per cent of Alberta’s 16,000 health-care employees represented by the union, had voted in favour of a strike.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith addressed the settlement during her weekly radio show on Saturday.

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”We’re very hopeful that with that recommendation that we will see an end to labour action,” she said. “There’s a lot of people up very late last night trying to bridge that final gap.”

The deal would see union members receive a three per cent wage increase each year, over four years – a 12 per cent wage increase.

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Initially hesitant to accept the province’s offer of a 12 per cent increase, lead negotiator for AUPE Kate Robinson said that changed once the province included a retroactive adjustment for health-care workers.

”We believe that that reflected the value that these workers add to the health-care system retroactively. So it’s not just the the market adjustments, what we have seen in other deals, it’s that they were effective date of ratification. These market adjustments go back all the way to April 1st, 2024,” said Robinson.

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According to AUPE, with retro pay, wages for licensed practical nurses increase a total of 24 per cent and for health-care aid workers 17 per cent.

Azocar said short staffing remains the biggest issue Alberta’s health-care sector is up against and she wants to see the province address it more directly.

”Short staffing is not going to go away. We still have a 12 per cent vacancy rate and those are the things that we continue to push for and work on. Some of the items that we were able to get here will address some of that,” she said.

The premier did not directly address short staffing issues in her comments on the deal.

“Not everything can be resolved at the bargaining table,” she said. ”I’m sure that there’ll be some additional type of work that we need do with all our units, make sure that they’ve got the best workplace conditions possible.”

The union plans a ratification vote after a town hall on Nov. 25.