The union representing 40 Westlock County employees has agreed to a new collective bargaining agreement that will see salaries increase 4.5 per cent over the next three years.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3007 ratified the agreement last month that will last until Dec. 31, 2020.
The county’s unionized employees will see their salaries rise one per cent in the first year of the agreement; 1.75 per cent the following year; and another 1.75 per cent the year after that.
“They’re pretty modest, but they’re roughly what we are seeing across the province for municipal bargaining,” said CUPE communications rep Lou Arab.
Much of the changes include revisions to the language and making it gender-neutral.
“There were actually quite a lot of language changes throughout that both the employer and the union were in agreement that the collective agreement needed a bunch of amendments, it needed a lot of cleaning up,” said Arab.
Besides the wage increase, some of the highlights of the new agreement include guaranteed year-round hours for grader operators; employees up to age 70 can now claim short-term disability; and overtime banking language was established so it’s clear where overtime credits go and how that is dealt with.
Arab said the agreement is very similar to others signed by other municipalities of similar size, financial position and number of employees.
“There’s nothing that strikes me as unusual with this agreement,” he said.
From a resident’s perspective, he said, the new agreement gives them assurance that the county is operating in a “professional and codified way.”
“From the perspective of the employees, it’s always good to have your wages and working conditions written there in black and white so you know what to expect and you know what the rules are and you know that if there’s a disagreement that there’s a process in place to resolve it,” said Arab.
“The two sides negotiated a deal that I believe is in the best interests of both parties.”
Westlock County representatives were not available for comment on the agreement last week.
