AHS Vote Reminder: A Message from your President & Vice-President

Members, 

This is a reminder that our ratification vote on the Mediator’s Final Terms of Settlement closes tomorrow at 4:00 p.m. If you have not yet voted, we strongly encourage you to take a few minutes to review the summary information and cast your ballot. 

Over the past several weeks, thousands of you have shared messages of support, emailed your MLAs, and applied pressure on the employer to return to the table with an improved offer. Because of your advocacy, the mediator’s recommendation in front of you includes more than 100 gains and no concessions, with wage and benefit improvements for every single member. 

HSAA Bargaining is Complex and Unique to Our Union 

We know that news from other unions in the health sector can raise questions or create comparisons. It’s important to understand that different unions bargain under different market conditions, with different job classifications and timelines.  

Our focus this round was on the unique challenges our professions face. Your Bargaining Team secured the same general wage increase as other health-care unions as well as significant additional market adjustments and step changes for many professions. 

The mediator’s recommendation reflects the realities of our negotiations with this employer and this government, after exhausting every available strategy, including multiple rounds of mediation and sustained pressure on the employer and government. 

We will continue to stand in solidarity with all public-sector workers fighting for fair compensation and respect. At the same time, we remain committed to HSAA’s own process and ensuring members have accurate information so you can make an informed decision in the current vote. 

The Best Path Forward  

Your Board of Directors and Bargaining Team remain unanimously in agreement: the mediator’s recommendation represents the best path forward for members. The recommended agreement takes meaningful steps forward for all 22,000 members of the AHS bargaining unit. 

You have worked 20 months without a contract in a strained health system marked by short staffing, restructuring, and extraordinary workloads. This agreement delivers real money in your pocket now, strengthens the foundation for future rounds of bargaining, and creates new tools to address recruitment and retention issues that affect many professions. 

We ask you to vote before 4:00 p.m. tomorrow and make your voice count. 

Together, we are stronger. 

Mike Parker, President
Leanne Alfaro, Vice-President