Unionized employees at Sunset Manor & Innisfail Country Manor have ratified their first contract with their employer.
Following a recent behind-the-scenes new round of bargaining talks between an Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) negotiator and representatives from the Chantelle Group -- the owner of the 136-bed seniors' residences -- employees ratified their first three-year contract Jan. 30 with a vote at the legion.
ìIt's not everything we had hoped for, and not everything our members deserve, but it is a starting point. It is a first contract,î said Andrew Hanon, AUPE communications officer. ìIt gives us a baseline to work on. We are hoping over time we will be able to bring everyone's wages and benefits and working conditions in line with the industry standard.î
Eugene Skoretz, president of Chantelle Group, said the first-contract agreement was one that both sides ìcould live with.
ìI hope the employees are happy and we can go on and do what we have been hired to do and that's to look after the residents of Innisfail,î said Skoretz. ìWe all have to give and take a little bit. It is not my way or their way. We work together towards an agreement. That is what we tried to work on and I think we have successfully completed that.î
The deal comes after Chantelle Group rejected an independent mediator's recommended settlement that was reached on Dec. 19 and ratified by the union's local chapter on Dec. 30.
Union officials said the owner notified AUPE about two weeks ago it was prepared to open up a new round of contract negotiations.
ìWe really didn't hear much about it until late Friday afternoon (Jan. 24) that we were going to have a ratification meeting. They told us to gather our members and get ready to vote,î said Barbara Tuttle, Sunset Manor employee and member of the union branch's negotiating committee.
She said 66 unionized employees, out of the total local membership of 104 employees, voted 86 per cent in favour of the new three-year contract agreement last Thursday.
ìWe are a bit relieved,î said Tuttle, whose AUPE local branch at the seniors' residences organized last May. ìIt was very stressful and the camaraderie around work wasn't very good because too many people had opinions and were trying to get other people to vote no. There was a lot of arguing over it.î
She said there are just three items from the mediated settlement that were changed for the final agreement.
The company, said Tuttle, insisted that employees that only work weekends and don't work Monday to Friday will not get shift premiums. She said the owner also wanted seniority to be based on hours of work instead of the date of hiring.
However, the union did improve on an important benefits item. According to union officials in Edmonton the mediated settlement agreement called for 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. The new round of talks between the owner and union produced a 50/50 split, which is considered an important win for the new local union branch.
Meanwhile, the financial details of the final agreement remain the same for the new contract, which officially begins Feb. 1. Unionized employees at Sunset Manor & Innisfail Country Manor have a wage settlement for two and a half, two and a half and a three per cent pay increase over three years.
ìWe have a leg to stand on now. Before we had nothing. We have somewhere to start from,î said Tuttle. ìI think that is what everybody is now in agreement with. And we have something to start with.î
