City worker vote starts string of contract talks

By COLLIN GALLANT on August 14, 2020.

A city worker enters the Esplanade on Thursday afternoon where voting was set to take place on a contract proposal between the city and about 800 members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local No. 46.--NEWS PHOTO COLLN GALLANT

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant 1

Unionized city workers voted on a new contract proposal late Thursday, though the details of the deal or the vote’s result likely won’t be known until Monday. 2

Typically, negotiated settlements that pass a union membership vote are then dealt with by elected officials at the following city council meeting. If both sides ratify the agreement, an overview of the pact is provided. 3

The collective agreement would replace one that expired at the end of 2019, and settle terms for the largest portion of the city’s unionized workforce. 4

The Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local No. 46, represents about 800 inside, outside and transit workers. 5

CUPE No. 46 president Jim Hall confirmed to the News that voting on the contract was accomplished over two days this week, with three sessions each day on Tuesday and Thursday at the Esplanade Theatre. Registration was required at each session to limit the size of gatherings in the interests of health. 6

He said talks have been ongoing since the most recent contract expired at the end of 2019. 7

That three-year deal including a wage freeze in 2017 – a key point in the city’s budget plan – then raises of 2 per cent in each of the following two years. 8

Four of the city’s five collective agreements with employees in its 1,100-person total workforce are now expired. 9

The city’s agreement with the International Association of Fire Fighters, Local No. 263, ended in late 2018. It was the first concluded in a round of bargaining with all unions where the city sought wage freezes for the 2017 contract year. 10

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local No. 254, represents about 160 workers in two units of power line and power plant workers. Their contract expired at the end of 2019. 11

City Hall’s collective agreement with the Medicine Hat Police Association expires at the end of 2020. Those negotiations dragged on for more than two years before the sides settled on a zero per cent wage change in 2017, but nearly 8 per cent in cumulative raises over the final three years. 12

The most-recent increase, which came into effect in July, places the average Medicine Hat police officer’s wage at $50.44 per hour, according to data provided by Alberta Ministry of Labour and Immigration. 13

That sits below the 2020 contract rate in Calgary and Lethbridge, but above Edmonton, though officers with all three of those municipal police forces earned more in the interim. 14

Medicine Hat fire fighters were the second lowest paid among departments in mid- to large-sized municipalities in the province in 2018 when the local deal expired. 15

Wage comparisons for general municipal workers and utility staff are not provided by Alberta Labour due to the broad nature of positions involved.16