'They do not respect them': Health-care union says negotiations with AHS stalled over wages

An Alberta Health Services ambulance is seen in a file photo from July 28, 2023. (Karyn Mulcahy/CTV News Edmonton)

The union representing Alberta’s allied health workers says Alberta Health Services (AHS) is refusing to negotiate wages, bringing ongoing collective bargaining to a halt.

The Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA) has been in contract negotiation since March, but union president Mike Parker said on Friday that AHS is unwilling to sit down and discuss what he calls the "insulting monetary proposal" it is offering health-care workers.

"We are in a health-care staffing crisis, and this government who sets the mandate for public sector bargaining, is telling health-care professionals in Alberta that they do not respect them and the services they provide for Albertans," HSAA president Mike Parker said.

AHS is offering most HSAA members a 7.5 per cent increase over four years. However, 21 per cent of members would receive only lump sum payments equivalent to the wage increase, but no change in their base pay. The union says this amounts to a wage freeze for social workers, speech language pathologists, respiratory therapists, pharmacy technicians, and health information management professionals.

"Wages below inflation or lumps sums will only make the staffing crisis worse by pushing health-care workers out of the province and making Alberta even more unattractive to new workers," Parker said.

Since 2016, HSAA members have received 4.25 per cent wage increases through previous collective agreements, as well as a COVID Recognition Lump Sum of one per cent for hours worked in 2021, a spokesperson for the union said.

According to Statistics Canada, Alberta’s Consumer Price Index increased by 3.5 per cent in the last year alone, between March of 2023 and 2024.

In an email, a spokesperson for AHS said the organization is still engaged in negotiations with the union.

"AHS is committed to the bargaining process. While the outcome of bargaining is not yet determined, any speculation at this stage would be premature. We look forward to continuing our discussions with HSAA."

The HSAA represents around 29,000 health-care professionals across more than 240 health-care disciplines.