AHS Nursing Care: We have served strike notice

AUPE served strike notice at 7:55 a.m. this morning, Wednesday, November 19. Our strike will begin at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday, November 22.

Mediation was not successful. We did not reach a tentative agreement nor receive recommendations from our mediator. 

The employer’s offer is simply not good enough, especially when it comes to our wages. 

Your team’s wage proposal would make Alberta the best province in Canada to be a Licensed Practical Nurse and Health Care Aide. And not just in 2025, but through to 2027 as well, just like Registered Nurses. 

This would help close the gap that has grown between RNs and LPNs, which is increasingly important when you consider our expanding scope of practice. 

We are also far apart on the following issues: 

• Professional Development Days

  • The employer wants these days to be split across multiple employers, rather than the full allotment at each. This would negatively impact members with more than one job at multiple pillars of health care.

• Hours of Work improvements. 

• We want to remove the limit on banked overtime. The employer does not. 

• We want all shifts worked by our members to be offered to our members first, before offered to others. 

• On-call 

  • We want improved rates of pay for on-call, rules for on-call schedules, as well as a ban on placing employees on-call the night before off days, vacation, or approved leave of absence.

• Improved mileage for those who are required to provide their vehicle for employer business, including free on-site parking for those employees.

• Improved benefits, including coverage for all prescriptions written by a Physician. 

• Professional fees and insurance

  • Set eligibility at 684.6 hours with no cap. 

Next steps 

The government and our employers must take this strike notice seriously. We hope they will return to the bargaining table with an improved mandate. There is still time to reach a fair deal at the bargaining table before we go on strike. 

Your team will share more updates as we move forward. 

Get strike pay quickly 

The quickest and easiest way to receive strike pay is to create a MyAUPE account and then upload your direct deposit information. 

Create an account at www.aupe.org/MyAUPE 

Once you log in to your account, you can visit aupe.org/form/strike-pay-direct-deposit to submit your account information. You can also select “Banking Information” or “Strike Pay Cheque Processing” to upload a void cheque or submit your information manually. 

Strike information 

Visit www.aupe.org/ahsstrike for more information about our strike. 

This web page includes: 

• Your Strike Line Locator tool; 

• Designated Essential Services Worker declaration forms; 

• Essential Services Agreement documents; 

• An FAQ document with quick answers to many important questions. 

Members can also visit AUPE’s Strike Hub website for more general information about strikes, including the AUPE Strike Manual. 

Visit AUPE.org/Strike101 

Thank you once again for your support and solidarity. Please contact a member of your negotiating team if you have questions. 
 
AHS NURSING CARE NEGOTIATING TEAM 
 
Local 041 
 
Christine Vavrik 
rvavrik@shaw.ca     
 
Catherine Sivasankar (alt) 
accb@shaw.ca 
 
Local 043 
 
Sandy Miller 
smiller98@msn.com       
 
Jennifer Power (alt) 
cherrigarcia24@yahoo.ca  
 
Local 044  
 
Marg Miller 
marg.miller@hotmail.ca     
 
Jesse Philp (alt) 
jreimerlpn@gmail.com 
 
Local 045 
 
Nancy Burton 
ndburton@hotmail.com 
 
Angela Smyth (alt) 
angelscare.as@gmail.com 
 
Local 046 
 
Marty Roy 
bargaininglocal46@gmail.com 
 
Heather Stewart (alt) 
stewart.h@live.ca 
 
AUPE RESOURCE STAFF 
 
Kate Robinson, Lead Negotiator 
k.robinson@aupe.org 
 
Chris Dickson, Negotiator 
c.dickson@aupe.org