Town of Coaldale: Get the full picture on what’s happening in bargaining

Members may have received an email from the Town of Coaldale about forcing us to vote on their latest offer. Your negotiating team wants to give you the full context to ensure you know all the facts about what this means and how it affects bargaining.

Background and timeline

• The Town tabled “Comprehensive Offer #3” on June 27, 2025.
• We rejected this offer on July 2, 2025 after reviewing the offer and asking for your opinions.
• The Town then asked the Alberta Labour Relations Board to force us to vote on the offer we rejected.
• Before this, we filed an Unfair Labour Practice (ULP) complaint about the Employer’s interference in bargaining, specifically their unilateral actions around benefit premium cost-sharing.
• We have since filed a second ULP regarding direct bargaining, based on the CAO sending staff repeated emails with inaccurate and misleading information about the offer.

Direct bargaining is not permitted

Under the Labour Relations Code, your union is your exclusive bargaining agent. AUPE, which includes your negotiating team, is who the employer must bargain with.

The Town of Coaldale bypassed the union and communicated directly with you to influence your opinion on their offer. This undermines AUPE’s role and interferes with our duty to bargain. The employer should not do this, and is why we filed our second Unfair Labour Practice complaint.

Why we object to the forced vote at this time

The Town’s message implies we are delaying the process. The truth is we are upholding the integrity of collective bargaining.

If the Labour Board upholds our complaints, the Employer’s actions and offer may contravene the Labour Code itself. We should not vote on anything until these issues are resolved. The employer’s actions could taint the process and result in an unfair outcome.

Your team’s position

The Labour Board will ultimately decide if and when the vote proceeds. We respect that process. However, our position is that the vote should not happen until the Board has ruled on our serious complaints.

Your team is ready and willing to return to the bargaining table. We believe that is the best way for us to reach a fair collective agreement.  

Thank you for your solidarity and support. Please contact a member of your team if you have any questions.

AUPE NEGOTIATING TEAM - TOWN OF COALDALE

Gerriane Timmerman  
gerriane@gmail.com

Ryan Moman  
ryanmoman@hotmail.com

Jesse Vander Heyden  
j.vanderheyden88@gmail.com

AUPE RESOURCE STAFF

Christian Tetreault Negotiations
c.tetreault@aupe.org