AUPE to hold strike vote after talks with Alberta government break down

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) says negotiations with the Government of Alberta have reached an impasse—and the union will now be holding a strike vote.

AUPE notified the government’s lead negotiator on Wednesday, which triggered a mandatory 14-day cooling-off period. The union is calling for a 24 per cent wage increase over four years. In contrast, the province has proposed an 11.5 per cent increase over the same period.

Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner said the province remains open to reaching a fair agreement.

“I think you can see from our track record that we’re willing to table fair deals that are based in data, and I think we’ve shown that with UNA [United Nurses of Alberta]—teachers are considering as we speak. That’ll still be the case, but you need a dance partner. So we’ll be there when they come back,” said Horner.

AUPE is using recent negotiations by other major unions as benchmarks. The United Nurses of Alberta recently secured a 19.8 per cent wage increase over four years, while the Alberta Teachers’ Association is currently voting on a proposed 15.1 per cent increase.

“It’s all based on data,” Horner added. “There are sectors represented by AUPE that are below market as well, that would see a substantially larger increase. So we’ll be at the table. They can describe it however they like to their members, but we believe in fair deals. The data’s not going to change.”

Opposition MLA Peggy Wright of the NDP responded, saying, “I think it’s perfectly reasonable for all workers across this province to be able to live and provide for their families.”

The potential strike vote would involve eight AUPE locals, all made up of Alberta government employees. Local 001 alone includes roughly 6,000 administrative and support staff at provincial sites across the province.

Should a strike occur, Horner said he does not expect a significant impact on the public.

“There are essential service agreements that are in place before you get this far into bargaining,” he said. “So I think society—Albertans in general—will largely be covered. But any kind of action like that won’t change the data.”

CityNews reached out to AUPE for comment. The union provided a written statement, reading in part:

“AUPE will not be making any public statements at this time as we focus on communicating with our 23,000 government sector members and preparing for telephone town hall meetings that will be held in a couple of weeks. Our goal is to fully apprise our membership of the status of bargaining and the necessity to take further steps in the bargaining process—namely, taking a strike vote at a yet-to-be-determined time in the future.”