Legal Aid: We have a tentative agreement

Your negotiating team met the employer on October 9 and 10 to wrap up mediation.

Although we were able to agree on most areas, several, including Work from Home provisions, remained outstanding.  Nevertheless, we have a tentative agreement, which is a combination of mutually agreed items and mediator’s recommendations.

We will vote on whether to accept or reject this agreement from Friday, October 31 to 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, November 6. 

A ballot will be emailed to you so please keep an eye on your inbox! If you have not received a ballot by the morning of October 31, email ballotrequest@aupe.org or contact the Member Resource Centre at 1-800-232-7284.

The tentative agreement (TA) includes all the items we mutually resolved and those in the mediator’s recommendation. We discussed and resolved many outstanding items when we met for mediation. However, there were several items that we could not agree on. Those outstanding items are covered by the mediator’s recommendations.

The ratification vote will be to either accept or reject the entire TA.

Your negotiating team is not making a recommendation on whether to accept the TA or reject it. Though there are positive improvements, it also allows the employer to increase in-office days. 

Join us for an important meeting

Join us on October 30 at 6:00 p.m. on Teams. We will review the tentative agreement and answer your important questions.

Check your email inboxes for this update including the meeting details. 

The entirety of the TA, with the previously agreed items (Appendix A) and the mediator’s recommendations, as well as the Salary Schedule and a listing of salaries by employee number are attached below. 

A summary of the items we mutually agreed upon includes:

• 3% annual wage increase per year for four years.
• A new wage grid upon ratification.
  
  - For most classifications, this new grid deletes the bottom two steps, makes the existing Long Service Increment (LSI) the new top step, and adds a new LSI of 2% after 20 years.
   
• The two classifications of Help Desk (retitled Help Desk Tier 1) and Operational Resource Developer (retitled Process Documentation and Support Coordinator) have lower rates of pay, but existing employees will not have their salaries reduced.

• Employees whose rate of pay exceeds the new grid will be “green circled,” meaning that they will receive the 3% annual wage increases added to their base rate of pay. 

  - Green circled employees include newly in-scope administrative employees, call centre employees hired before February 10, 2020, Help Desk Analysts, and the Operational Resource Developer. 

• An additional bonus day.
• A flexible health spending account of $1200.
• Adds “any holiday proclaimed” by either provincial or federal governments, which includes the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation.
• Two employees hired as Help Desk Analyst Tier 2 (currently called Worksite Support) will join the bargaining unit upon ratification.
  
  The mediator’s recommendations include:
   
• Maintain the existing Work from Home Letter of Understanding.
• Maintain existing medical appointment provisions.
• Change the Casual Illness article so that we will use up our past year’s entitlement prior to the current year.
• Maintain the existing vacation provisions.

Please reach out to a member of your negotiating team with any questions or concerns. 

AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM – LEGAL AID
Janelle Supria
jhemraj@hotmail.com or 403-850-7658 
Tasha Halldorson
t.halldorson@yahoo.com or 780-920-0422
April Graham
aprilgraham@yahoo.com or 780-718-9574

AUPE RESOURCE STAFF
Merryn Edwards de la O Negotiations
m.edwardsdelao@aupe.org