AUPE Local 20 Negotiations & Collective Agreement
Bargaining Update: October 05, 2009
EDMONTON — The AUPE Local 020 bargaining committee has filed a request for compulsory arbitration under the terms of the Public Service Employee Relations Act to help resolve an impasse in negotiations with ATB Financial.
AUPE and the financial services company failed to reach an agreement in bargaining, and were also unable to reach an agreement with the assistance of a government appointed mediator in August and September.
“Compulsory arbitration was not our preferred course of action, but the employer’s intransigence in bargaining and mediation left us with little choice,” said AUPE Staff negotiator Malcolm McNaughton, who leads the local’s bargaining committee.
“ATB Financial is in a relatively strong financial position and our members should not have to deal with these kinds of frustrations to reach a fair collective agreement,” McNaughton said.
On Aug. 18, ATB Financial issued a press release reporting a $33.1 million profit in the first quarter of its financial year. “We’re doing more business – and good business,” the company’s president said in the release.
AUPE represents approximately 1,600 employees of ATB Financial at branches throughout Alberta.
When dates for arbitration are determined, they will be posted here.
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