AUPE’s health-care aids to strike starting Saturday

By ANNA SMITH Local Journalism Initiative on November 20, 2025.

The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees health-care aides gave strike notice Wednesday and are set to hit the picket lines this weekend.

After an overwhelming vote in favour of strike earlier this month, job action is to begin at 8 a.m. on Saturday.

AUPE president Sandra Azocar said in a news conference Wednesday that these decisions are never easy.

“We reached a point where we had no choice … today, we’re standing up not just for (workers), but for the future of our health care in this province,” said Azocar.

In a previous interview with the Medicine Hat News, she expressed concern that the province may be “willing to legislate instead of negotiate, but as a union and as the labour movement, we’re prepared to take that fight on if that’s what they decide to do.”

Minister of Finance Nate Horner has stated such action is “highly unlikely.”

About 98 per cent of members who voted earlier this month approved the job action, with 70.5 per cent of eligible voters contributing to the decision.

The primary issue remains wages, as the union says there’s a wage gap of about nine per cent between the last offer and workers’ demands. The last offer was a 12 per cent wage increase over four years.

Not all members will be legally permitted to strike as essential workers, and as such will rotate shifts on picket lines. However, some elective surgeries have already been cancelled as a result, says Azocar, with the potential for more cancellations.

Horner expressed disappointment in regards to the strike notice, but reaffirmed the Government of Alberta’s commitment to working with AUPE and AHS to explore options and avoid unnecessary disruptions to health-care services.

“The AUPE was offered a fair and reasonable deal that was highly competitive with the other provinces across Canada,” said Horner. “We remain hopeful the parties can arrive at an agreement that is fair for workers, responsible for taxpayers, and supports stability in our health-care system.”

Regardless, Horner says there are contingency plans in place for the event of a strike. Essential services will maintain staffing levels required per agreement, and only 20 per cent are legally permitted to withdraw from non-essential services.

“AHS will be communicating further on which non-essential services will be impacted by the strike in the coming days,” said Horner.