Health support workers win 5-per-cent pay raise

Arbitrator awards retroactive increase going back to 2014

A lengthy labour dispute between Alberta Health Services and more than 23,000 support workers has ended after an independent arbitrator awarded the workers a five-per-cent pay increase over three years.

General Support Services employees, represented by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, had been without a deal since the spring of 2014. More than two years of negotiations and two rounds of mediation failed to reach an agreement, until the case was sent to binding arbitration.

The terms awarded by arbitrator Phyllis Smith are retroactive, giving employees a two-per-cent pay hike for the 2014-15 fiscal year, another two-per-cent in 2015-16, and one-per-cent raise in the current fiscal year.

“While not all of AUPE’s proposals were accepted by the arbitrator, we acknowledge the ruling and accept this long-awaited agreement for these members,” AUPE president Guy Smith said in a statement Wednesday.

AHS said it is reviewing the arbitrator’s decision, but will abide by the ruling. The health authority said it did not yet have an estimate of the total costs of the pay hikes.

The terms are similar to those received by workers represented by the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, who received pay increases of 4.25 per cent over the same three years, plus two lumpsum payments of $1,000 each.

The United Nurses of Alberta received a four-year deal retroactive to 2013 that featured pay hikes of 7.25 per cent, plus three lump-sum payments worth a total of $4,000.

The agreement with the UNA was reached in July 2014, followed by the deal with the HSAA in December of that year. Both agreements required mediation, but did not go to binding arbitration.

As of March 31, 2017, all three major labour groups within AHS will see their deals expire. Negotiations on the next contracts are expected to begin within the next few months. General Support Services employees hold a variety of jobs, including custodial work, preparing meals, managing health records, maintaining information technology and sterilizing surgical tools.