They are united and full of resolve but unionized employees for Sunset Manor & Innisfail Country Manor have not yet sounded the bell for a strike vote.
About 35 employees ñ just over a quarter of the total membership -- met with Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) officials last week (Jan. 20) at the legion.
However, the only action that was decided -- since a mediator's recommended settlement was rejected by the employer earlier this month -- was to go to town council this week to seek municipal political support.
ìWe will see what the town is thinking about it. I am just going to go there and have my two minutes. There is going to be other union people there as well,î said Jacquie Major, a bargaining committee member for the new AUPE local chapter, about the union's planned attendance at last night's council meeting. She said the union local branch would be seeking town council's support.
ìIt would be awesome, yes,î said Major, adding the sit-down sessions with union officials ìwent really wellî last week. ìThis (resolution) is what the next couple of weeks is going to bring us. The people that were there can take it back to the membership to tell them what was talked about.
ìWe all have to band together. It is united we stand, divided we fall,î she added.
Dale Perry, AUPE staff negotiator, was in Innisfail last week to talk to Sunset Manor union employees, who have been seeking a first collective agreement since it organized last May. He said the intent was to provide union branch members with the avenues of action that are available to them.
ìBefore you move forward you have to ensure everybody is on side, or a significant majority in any actions you take. In order to get people on side you have to educate them,î said Perry. ìCertainly support for the union is not in question. From the first session today (Jan. 20) I would suggest they are willing to take on their employer but that is not what we are asking them yet.î
The Province attempted to obtain a comment from the Chantelle Group ñ which owns the 136-bed Sunset Manor & Innisfail Country Manor facility, but calls were not immediately returned.
Perry said there are several options available for the union branch to obtain its first collective agreement. He said the first option under provincial labour laws is to seek arbitration but he doubted that would occur, as it has to be sought with mutual agreement from the employer.
ìI don't believe the employer will participate in that mutual agreement process as we were recently in dispute with the same employer at a facility in Edmonton and they were not interested in doing the arbitration process as a way to resolve the issue, short of a work stoppage,î said Perry, noting an independent third party appointed by the provincial government for the arbitration process could write a first collective agreement that would be binding on the parties.
Perry said a second option would be to go on strike. He added there is also the legislative ability under the Alberta Labour Relations Code for the government to intervene with the appointment of a Disputes Inquiry Board (DIB). However, he added the process, much like mediation, is not binding on the parties.
Perry said if the DIB failed to reach a settlement there is the ability to appoint a public emergency tribunal system that is similar to arbitration.
ìIf the direction is that they (union members) want to fight to achieve a fair collective agreement then we will use every avenue available to us to do that,î said Perry.
A mediated settlement for the local chapter and the owner was reached on Dec. 19 and ratified by local chapter members on Dec. 30, despite many concessions made by the union chapter. The mediator contacted the AUPE on Jan. 3 that Chantelle Group rejected the agreement. The union received a company letter on Jan. 6 confirming the rejection but no reason was forwarded, said union officials.
The union claims employees earn 30 to 40 per cent less than the industry standard for private for-profit homes, even though the owner receives Alberta Health Services funding for 92 of its beds. Employees currently have no health benefits or sick leave, said the union.
Union officials said the mediated agreement contained a recommended wage settlement for a two and a half, two and a half and a three per cent pay increase over three years. The agreement also proposed a 40 per cent employer and 60 per cent employee paid benefit plan compared to the industry standard of a 75 per cent employer paid plan.
