(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By David Opinko (Lethbridge News Now) and rdnewsNOW

"arduous" process

Alberta nurses ratify new deal with employers after two years of negotiations

Jan 28, 2022 | 12:52 PM

An end to one of the “most prolonged and arduous negotiations in the provincial nursing union’s 44-year history.”

United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) has ratified a new Collective Agreement with Alberta Health Services (AHS), Covenant Health, and two smaller employers.

“The Bargaining Committee felt strongly the Mediator’s recommendation issued on December 21 was a fair deal that will benefit our members and also fair to the people of Alberta,” said UNA President Heather Smith. “I am gratified that the members agreed with the bargaining committee’s recommendation and voted by 87 per cent to ratify this agreement.”

More than 30,000 Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses voted, casting their ballots electronically Tuesday and Wednesday.

The deal is retroactive to April 1, 2020, and runs until March 31, 2024.

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“Today, I am pleased to hear that Registered Nurses have voted to accept the Mediator’s recommendation. This four-year labour agreement comes after many months of dedicated negotiations. Alberta’s nurses have played a critical role throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, and we’re deeply appreciative of the role they have played in caring for our friends, families and neighbours over the past two difficult years,” says Travis Toews, Minister of Treasury Board and Finance.

“We appreciate that this agreement balances the need to keep health care spending comparative to that in other jurisdictions while ensuring Alberta’s Registered Nurses receive fair and competitive compensation for the critical services they provide. I also applaud the parties in arriving at an agreement that recognizes and works to address the unique labour market realities facing Alberta and North America in the recruitment and retention of Registered Nurses.”

Some highlights of the deal include:

• 4.25-per-cent pay increases over the life of the agreement. Alberta nurses will remain the highest paid in Canada
• Conversion of current semi-annual lump-sum payments to the wage grid
• A one-time lump sum payment of one per cent for 2021 in recognition of nurses’ contributions during the pandemic
• Enhanced psychological and mental health supports
• Creation of a union-employer provincial workload advisory committee
• Implementation of a Rural Capacity Investment Fund, which will allocate $5 million a year to recruitment and retention strategies in rural and remote areas of the province, and $2.5 million a year for relocation assistance

It was a long road to get to this point as negotiations started about two years ago in early 2020. At the time, AHS negotiators asked for wage cuts and other rollbacks.

“Alberta Health Services’ willingness to move away from its initial demands for wage cuts and to drop its efforts to impose more than 200 rollbacks made this agreement possible,” said UNA Labour Relations Director David Harrigan.

In addition to RNs and RPNs employed by AHS and Covenant Health, the agreement covers those employed by The Bethany Group in Camrose and Lamont Health care.

“We offer our thanks to the negotiation teams who have worked tirelessly over the past several months to reach an agreement”, says Dr Verna Yiu, AHS President and CEO. “We are grateful to all of our nursing staff and healthcare teams for their exceptional work and dedication to serving Albertans throughout the pandemic and beyond.”