Alberta nurses now the highest paid in Canada after voting ‘overwhelmingly’ in favour of new agreement: UNA

Alberta nurses have voted in favour of ratifying a new four-year collective agreement with provincial health agencies.

Members of the United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) voted on Wednesday, with 95.7 per cent of eligible registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses voting in favour of ratifying the new agreement. UNA said an additional 124 affected locals voted in favour of accepting the new agreement. Voter turnout was 77.4 per cent.

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In a Thursday news release, UNA president Heather Smith said the new collective agreement was a meaningful step towards respecting Alberta nurses. The vote was described as “overwhelmingly ratified.”

“This round of negotiations was about respect, retention and recruitment,” Smith said.

“When UNA members voted against ratifying a settlement that had been recommended by a mediator last October, they spoke clearly, and we listened. The result was the agreement ratified yesterday.”

The four-year agreement will retroactively take effect from March 31, 2024, and will expire on April 1, 2028. According to UNA, this new agreement with provincial health authorities will make Alberta nurses the highest paid in any Canadian province.

Over the next four years, members will receive approximately a 20 per cent pay increase, with an immediate pay increase of up to 15 per cent. The new agreement will continue to include nurses working for Alberta Health Services who are transferred in the coming weeks and months to the new health agencies.

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In addition, the new agreement will include:

• Annual pay increases of three per cent in each year of the new agreement
• A revised annual pay grid with pay increases of four per cent between each step
• Pay increases retroactive to April 1, 2024
• Significant monetary increases for on-call, charge pay, and other premiums
• Full reimbursement of professional registration and liability fees
• New measures to ensure safe staffing
• A commitment by the province to provide presumptive coverage for PTSD and psychological injuries
• Job security during health-care restructuring
• Assistance for rural health-care staffing

In a press release on Thursday, Finance Minster Nate Horner said the new collective agreement will continue to support retention and recruitment for nurses.

“We all have tremendous respect for nurses and know that our health-care system could not thrive without them,” Horner said.

“In addition, the graduate nursing transition pilot program commits to hiring 1,000 new nursing graduates every year, throughout the term of the contract. This means that almost every nurse who graduates from a post-secondary institution in the province could have a full-time position following graduation.”

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ctran@postmedia.com

X: @kccindytran

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