Bargaining Updates: AUPE Local 053

The Board and AUPE’s bargaining committees met on October 28th and 29th. The Board and AUPE’s bargaining committees previously met in July, and on October 16th and 17th. The Board has tabled a number of proposals in previous meetings, and sought to advance the collective bargaining process. 

In this most recent round of meetings, the Board tabled proposals regarding several parts of the Collective Agreement, including responses to AUPE committee proposals. Additionally, the Board initiated discussions regarding certain proposals that the parties had in their ingoing proposals, which had not yet been discussed. There are still articles within the parties’ non-monetary proposals where discussions have not started, or have started and have not been completed. The Board looks forward to those continued discussions. 

AUPE advised the Board on the afternoon of October 29th that it would be applying for “informal mediation”. Informal mediation is a process whereby a party can ask for a mediator to informally assist with the bargaining process. This was an unusual request to the Board, in particular as discussions on matters in the non-monetary proposals are not done between the parties. The Board has however agreed to move forward with the informal mediation process AUPE has initiated. We are hopeful that the parties will continue to have productive discussions, including regarding the items where discussions have yet to begin. 
 

The bargaining committees for the Board and AUPE met on October 16th and 17th. The committees had productive discussions, and were able to sign off on several proposals. The committees are scheduled to meet on October 28th and 29th. The Board’s committee looks forward to our ongoing discussions with AUPE’s bargaining committee.

On July 24, 25, and 26, 2024, AUPE and the Board’s Teams met to bargain collectively. The parties exchanged ingoing non-monetary proposals. Bargaining was productive and discussions between the parties were positive. The parties were able to sign off on a number of articles.

AUPE’s Team has provided its monetary proposal. The Board’s Team has not provided its monetary proposal at this time. That proposal will likely be tabled at a later date, following discussions on non-monetary proposals. That is consistent with the Board’s normal approach in bargaining.

This round of collective bargaining is being undertaken in the context of several significant challenges for the University. We have seen a significant decrease in domestic enrollment (approx. 23%) since Fall 2019. We have similarly seen a decrease in our provincial operating grant; it has fallen by over 20% since 2019. These are among the significant operational challenges we face, and within which we are bargaining.

We will be meeting with AUPE’s Team in October 2024 to resume bargaining. We are pleased with the tone and tenor of negotiations to date and look forward to next steps.

On April 02, 2024, the University of Lethbridge Board of Governors received a notice to bargain from the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE), Local 053, which represents non-academic support staff at the University of Lethbridge. As part of the collective bargaining process, the University of Lethbridge Board of Governors has now officially responded to AUPE and requested suggestions for opening dates to begin discussions.

The purpose of these discussions will be to arrive at a new collective agreement that both supports the work of AUPE employees and enables the University of Lethbridge to succeed as one of Canada’s leading academic and research institutions. The University respects and values the significant contributions of AUPE employees and the role they play at ULethbridge.

The Board negotiating team is confident that positive, open conversations will lead to productive bargaining sessions and ultimately a mutually beneficial agreement that will position the University and its AUPE staff for continued success moving forward. The University is committed to transparency throughout the negotiation process and will share regular updates with the community as bargaining progresses. These updates can be found on the labour relations section of the newly designed Human Resources website.