The 100 or so workers had been without a new contract since the end of 2022.
According to the Collective Bargaining Agreements database provided on the Government of Alberta website, transit drivers in St. Albert recently ratified a new contract.
These workers had been operating on an old contract, which expired at the end of 2022.
They had been employed with Diversified Transportation, who had been contracted out by the City of St. Albert to operate their municipal transit.
Since the previous contract was settled back in 2019, transit operations have been transferred to PWTransit, a division of Pacific Western Group of Companies, a Calgary-based privately-owned passenger transportation company.
Under their previous 4-year contract, the workers had been promised a combined 5% wage increase, including a wage freeze in their first year.
(Although, it’s more like 5.08% combined if you account for compound increases.)
With this new 3-year contract, the 100 or so workers, who are members of Local 569 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, are set to receive a combined 9% wage increase by the time the contract expires at the end of 2025.
Here is how it breaks down by year.
| 1 Jan 2023 | 2.5% |
| 1 Jul 2023 | 1.5% |
| 1 Jan 2024 | 3.0% |
| 1 Jan 2024 | 2.0% |
This was a mediated contract, which means the workers and the employer were unable to reach a mutually agreeable contract and had to go to a third-party mediator to help them come to an agreement.
And 9% over 3 years is certainly better than 5% over 4 years.
