Alberta Union of Provincial Employees at the University of Lethbridge Ratify New 3 Year Agreement

Members of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees at the University of Lethbridge Tuesday ratified a new three-year collective agreement that includes pay increases of 10.75 per cent over the life of the contract.

Under the agreement — which runs from July 1, 2005, to June 30, 2008 — the approximately 430 members of AUPE Local 053 will see pay increases of 3.75 per cent in the first year, 3.25 per cent in the second year and 3.75 per cent in the third year, said AUPE Staff Negotiator Dale Perry.

The members, employed in non-academic roles by the university, will receive retroactive pay to July 1, Perry said.

Other improvements in the agreement include

• An agreement that there will be no contracting out by the employer for the life of the contract.
• An increase of one per cent in the employees’ career-progress increments, to four per cent, effective July 1, 2006.
• Increases in shift and weekend premium pay to $1.25 per hour effective Oct. 1, 2005, and to $1.50 per hour on July 1, 2006.
• Inclusion of brother and sister in the agreement’s definition of immediate family for bereavement leave, and an increase in the leave to five days.
• An additional $10,000 provided to the university’s support staff scholarship fund as of July 1, 2005.
• Improvements in vacation accrual rates and the addition of 30 days vacation after 24 years of employment.