Thousands of Alberta nurses will be earning a higher wage and other benefits over the next four years after ratifying their collective agreement on Wednesday.
Online voting on the new Provincial Collective Agreement took place throughout the day yesterday.
Of the eligible Registered Nurses and Registered Psychiatric Nurses who voted, 95.74 per cent supported ratifying the new agreement.
In addition, 100 per cent of UNA’s 124 affected locals voted in favour of accepting the new agreement, which covers approximately 33,000 of UNA’s more than 35,000 members.
Workers will be receiving an immediate 15 per cent pay increase, with an overall increase of around 20 per cent over the next four years.
United Nurses of Alberta (UNA) says this makes Alberta nurses the highest paid in any province.
The collective agreements also include an annual three per cent wage increase, job security during health-care restructuring, “significant” monetary increases for on-call, charge pay and other premiums.
Nurses will also have assistance for rural health-care staffing and a revised annual pay grid with pay increases of four per cent between each step.
“This round of negotiations was about Respect, Retention and Recruitment,” said UNA President Heather Smith.
“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 agreement will expire on April 1, 2028.
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