General Support Services members get ready
GSS members with AHS just held four successful bargaining town halls. We’re getting ready for the bargaining battle – and media campaign – ahead!
Jul 29, 2025
By Maureen Mariampillai, Communications Staff
More than 12,000 AHS General Support Services members tuned into AUPE’s Telephone Town Halls in June.
The GSS Negotiating Team and members of AUPE Executive, including President Guy Smith, took hundreds of your questions over the course of two days and four town hall meetings.
The vibe members brought to each meeting was unmistakable. AUPE members want results and are not afraid to act to get them.
“Members must be prepared to take action, even if we do not ultimately have to. This is the key to our success.”
AUPE Vice-President Darren Graham, who helped moderate the meetings, said he was not at all surprised by members’ eagerness to take action.
“As someone who has worked for Alberta Health Services GSS, I know exactly how frustrating it can be in bargaining,” says Graham. “But the good news is that we also know what tools we have to put pressure on the employer to get a fair contract.”
Many town hall questions were about the Essential Service Agreement and when that would be finished. Since the telephone town hall, both AUPE and AHS signed off on the ESA. It was then sent to the Commissioner, who approved it.
“It is important that we don’t lose the momentum we’ve built while we wait.”
The ESAs for AHS General Support Services and Nursing Care members are now final. You can view the ESAs by logging in to your MyAUPE account.
“It is important that we don’t lose the momentum we’ve built while we wait,” says Graham. “Members must be prepared to take action, even if we do not ultimately have to. This is the key to our success.”
The town hall meetings were a chance to think about those preparations. Many members asked point blank: “What more can I do?”
Collective action doesn’t happen overnight. It takes all of us working together, in solidarity.
Here is what you can do today to keep building our workplace power:
- Create your aupe.org/MyAUPE account to vote on your future contract and receive strike pay. Regardless of what happens in bargaining, all members should have an account.
- Plan and attend union meetings and events, especially those that focus on bargaining.
- Sign up for Strike Captain training.
- Wear red clothing when bargaining continues.
- Spread the word! One-on-one conversations will always be your strongest tool to get more members involved with the union.
Speaking of spreading the word, AUPE has an exciting public advertising campaign in the works to showcase Alberta’s Health Care Team!
The overall campaign slogan will be: We are the Hearts, Hands, Minds and Backbone of Health Care.
The awareness campaign will launch later this summer and feature AUPE members who work in General Support Services as well as Nursing Care.
“As someone who has worked for Alberta Health Services GSS, I know exactly how frustrating it can be in bargaining. But the good news is that we also know what tools we have to put pressure on the employer to get a fair contract.”
Albertans will hear our message on the radio and see it on billboards on the way to work. People across the province will see our message at bus and train stations, on their phones when listening to Spotify, and as they scroll through Facebook and Instagram. We’re even going to have our message in doctor's offices and screens in apartment buildings.
AUPE members who deliver important health care services deserve respect. No matter what job we do, whether behind the scenes or right where the public can see us, we are a team.
This campaign will highlight the entire team of skilled professionals who deserve fair pay, benefits, job security, and better working conditions.
Stay tuned for the exciting reveal in August.
