Covenant Health Bargaining Update #10

Your bargaining committee met with your employer for two additional bargaining dates April 8 and 9, 2025.

The first day was a very frustrating day for our committee. It was evident that Covenant Health was not motivated to meet us at the table and bargain. Responses they had committed to providing us during our last bargaining dates in February were limited, and there was very little movement to bring us closer to an agreement. 

The employer again suggested mediation, citing how far apart the parties are with respect to wage proposals. This is not the first time Covenant has referenced both the separation between our respective wage proposals and mediation, as they first made reference to mediation in Day 2 of bargaining.

While mediation can be a helpful tool where the parties are at impasse, from your bargaining committee’s perspective, it is premature to consider at this point. It is our members’ right to negotiate a collective agreement. The employer is obligated to bargain with us and both parties are expected to bargain in good faith.

On April 9, we presented a comprehensive, top-down package of outstanding proposals to Covenant Health that put emphasis on your most important priorities and made movement towards agreements where reasonable. We also made it clear to the employer that we expect that they reciprocate in finding agreement and identifying their priorities so that they can return to negotiations prepared to respond to us in kind.  

By the end of the day on April 9, we were able to have some meaningful conversations, and the employer committed to canvassing their team for availability for further dates following June 2025. 

To sum up this bargaining round: there was no appetite from the employer to have significant discussions regarding most of our outstanding monetary proposals. It is also important to remember that there is more to monetary issues than wages. They include items such as benefits, pensions and more. All issues that are important to members. However, the employer has committed to identifying future bargaining dates.

Our next bargaining dates are June 4 and 5, 2025. We are hopeful that our work, dedication and approach these past two days will be reciprocated by the employer and result in further progress. However, if this is not the case, we will be ready for mediation.

For further questions or feedback, please email covenantbargaining@hsaa.ca. Your feedback remains invaluable to us. 

In solidarity,

Your Covenant Health Bargaining Committee

Ella Lunn, Respiratory Therapist, Grey Nuns Hospital

Terra McLaren, Medical Radiation Technologist, Banff Mineral Springs Hospital, Banff

Hesham Mostafa, Therapy Assistant, St. Joseph’s General Hospital, Vegreville

Joanna Czyzewska, HSAA Labour Relations Officer (Lead Spokesperson)

Shannon McLeod, HSAA Labour Relations Officer (Spokesperson)