Health-care workers rally at Peter Lougheed Centre

Members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees gathered outside Peter Lougheed Centre in northeast Calgary on Tuesday in support of ongoing contract negotiations with Alberta Health Services.

The demonstration comes as the union’s members in general support services enter formal mediation with AHS.

“We are here to show solidarity and make it clear — they need to come to the table with an intent to reach a fair contract,” said AUPE vice-president Bonnie Gostola.

Compensation is at the top of the union’s list of concerns, Gostola said, noting wages for many front-line staff have not kept pace with inflation or the rising cost of living in Alberta.

“It becomes very disheartening when you are in an agency that is about the care of human beings, and you don’t have the facility or the capacity in terms of human resources or even physical resources to actually meet those needs,” she said.

AUPE represents roughly 106,000 members across the province, about 55 per cent of whom work in health care, according to Gostola. The union also represents workers in education, including SAIT and the University of Calgary, as well as boards and agencies such as Travel Alberta.

The union has two separate collective bargaining agreements with AHS: one for members who work in nursing care, including licensed practical nurses and health-care aides, and one for members who work in support services.

Mediation began Tuesday for support workers and is scheduled to continue on Thursday, while mediation for nursing care workers has not yet started.

Front-line staff facing pressures, says AUPE vice-president

In February 2024, bargaining began with what AUPE described at the time as “an offer that can only be described as an insult to its workers,” proposing a four-year deal with raises of two per cent for the first two years and 1.75 per cent for the next two. At the time, AUPE was seeking a three-year deal with annual increases of 13 per cent, 6.5 per cent and 6.5 per cent.

Gostola said the union is seeking a contract that aligns with recent agreements in the health-care sector. She pointed to a recent four-year collective agreement reached by the United Nurses of Alberta that included an immediate pay increase of up to 15 per cent for registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses, with an overall increase of approximately 20 per cent.

“Our members are looking for a lot of the same things,” Gostola said, noting that their numbers show licensed practical nurses carry out 84 per cent of the work done by registered nurses, but are paid significantly less. “We’re really just asking that the scope of practice that they’ve been asked to do throughout their careers as licensed practical nurses matches what the registered nurses are getting.”

Gostola said that overall, the union wants Calgarians to understand the pressures facing front-line health-care staff.

“When you walk into that building, you’re going to be met by AUPE members . . . and what Calgarians need to understand is, we can’t keep going at the rate we’re going without having the staffing to actually meet the needs of health care in this province,” she said.