On Mar. 10, United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) reached a tentative agreement in bargaining with employers for Provincial Collective Agreement, with Alberta Health Services (AHS) and other public health care employers.
The tentative agreement was signed this morning on a contract for more than 33,000 Registered Nurses (RNs) and Registered Psychiatric Nurses (RPNs) employed by AHS, Recovery Alberta, Primary Care Alberta, Covenant Health, Lamont Health Care Centre, and the Bethany Group (Camrose).
“This round of negotiations has been about Respect, Retention and Recruitment," UNA President, Heather Smith said. "When UNA members voted against ratifying a settlement recommended by a Mediator last October, they spoke and we listened."
It is a four-year agreement that outlines monetary increases, safe staffing, respect, presumptive coverage for PTSD and psychological injuries, job security during health restructuring, assistance for rural health care.
The tentative agreement will significantly improve wages for all affected UNA members. RNs and RPNs will have an immediate increase of approximately 15 per cent and an overall increase of approximately 20 per cent, which is not inclusive of step progression.
"We believe it is an excellent agreement," UNA chief negotiator and UNA's Director of Labour Relations, David Harrigan, said.
According to the media release, "there are also other significant monetary improvements in the tentative agreement, including increases to charge pay, on-call pay, and car allowances, plus agreement that employers will pay all professional college registration and liability insurance fees."
The employers explicitly commit to providing safe staffing for all patients, residents and clients with a mechanism for reviewing and resolving employee concerns.
The Minister of Health, Adriana LaGrange, sent a letter to UNA that mentioned that any job transfers of an RN or RPN due to the government's restructuring of public health care will be to a provincial agency or provincial health corporation, preserving members' seniority, contractual benefits, and UNA representation.
The Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade, Matt Jones, also shared that RNs and RPNs will be included in presumptive coverage by the Workers' Compensation Board for psychological injuries related to post-traumatic stress disorder and other traumatic mental health injuries. This is an essential policy change that has long advocated by UNA.
Formal mediation by UNA began in Jan. 2025 to push the bargaining process further following a mass rejection of the previous recommendations that were reached through informal mediation.
The formal mediation took place for six weeks before the tentative agreement was signed on Mar. 10.
UNA's Negotiating Committee is recommends the ratification of the tentative agreement. Moving forward, UNA plans to hold an online meeting of UNA Local Executives on Mar. 11 at 6 p.m. along with online town halls for members on Mar. 15 at 1 p.m. and Mar. 18 at 7 p.m.
On Mar. 25, a virtual Reporting Meeting of Local Representatives will be held where the UNA Negotiating Committee will be recommending a ratification vote for all eligible members take place on Apr. 2.
