Collective Bargaining Frequently Asked Questions

Most U of A employees are represented by one of the four unions listed below. The union negotiates the terms and conditions applicable to the employment of its members through collective bargaining negotiations with the university.

• The Association of the Academic Staff of the University of Alberta (AASUA)
• The Graduate Students’ Association (GSA)
• The Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA)
• The Postdoctoral Fellows Association (PDFA)

To conclude the negotiations process, a settlement is reached when both parties are satisfied with the terms drafted. This settlement is accomplished through negotiations between the parties, but can also happen through a means of dispute resolution, such as mediation. 

Once a settlement is reached, both parties must have it approved by their respective principals (the decision makers they are negotiating on behalf of). For the university, this means approval by the Governors of the University of Alberta (the employer). For the union, it means a majority vote by the members in the bargaining unit.

This approval is called ratification. Once both parties have ratified the agreement, it becomes the renewal collective agreement. 

For more information see Government-funded public sector bargaining in Alberta »

An agreement comes into force once ratified by both parties. Some terms of the agreement might take effect only once both parties have ratified the agreement, while other terms might apply retroactively to the expiration date of the previous agreement.

Collective bargaining is a negotiation process between the university and the various unions representing university employees. The Public Sector Employers Act provides the legislative authority to the Government of Alberta’s President of Treasury Board, Minister of Finance to set bargaining directives for the public sector which include compensation limits and terms of agreement. 

Read more about post-secondary collective bargaining in Alberta.

As with all employee entitlements, resources and accesses, employee university Gmail accounts and CCIDs continue as usual during negotiations. Employee entitlements would only be suspended if work stops due to a labour disruption (strike or lockout) involving their union.

Student university Gmail accounts and student CCIDs are not impacted by the negotiations process.

University budget planning happens independently of collective bargaining but must consider its implications. For example, contemplated increases to compensation in renewed collective agreements are one of the financial pressures facing the university. 

It is not uncommon for the university’s collective bargaining process to take a year or longer and therefore overlap with the annual budget planning cycle. The university’s budget year is April 1 to March 31 and the budget planning begins months in advance. Planning for fiscal year 2025-26 is well underway and, in the current constricted environment, the university is trending towards a deficit in the coming fiscal year.

Under Alberta labour law, the university has an obligation to disclose financial information to the union during collective bargaining that has relevance to the bargaining process. The university  will therefore provide information on the realities of its finances to all associations and at the bargaining table as it is available and pertains to negotiations.

In response to continuing constraints on university finances, the university introduced new hiring protocols and restrictions effective Jan. 1, 2025. The timing and the freeze itself are independent of bargaining, which has been ongoing since early 2024 with both AASUA and NASA. 

The hiring freeze is a response from the university to increasing and expected cost pressures and limited opportunities to increase revenue.

No. AASUA’s comparison uses public data available through the Canadian Association of University Business Officers (CAUBO). However, the data is captured and reported differently by each U15 institution, so it should not be compared without additional context.

The university’s largest source of operating funding comes from student tuition, which helps pay for the instructor and staff salaries, and other costs associated with academic program delivery. 

Compensation offers by the university are determined primarily by a few key considerations:

• Required compliance with provincial directives on compensation and legislation for post-secondary bargaining.
• The financial realities of the university over the coming years -- the university cannot spend funds it does not have.
• The long-term success and interests of the university and our entire internal and external community - including students, staff, faculty.
• Comparable sectoral settlements.

At any time, collective bargaining parties may negotiate essential services that would continue to be performed by unionized employees in the event of a work stoppage. In Alberta, essential services agreements allow strikes and lockouts by public sector workers and their employers, while still requiring essential public services to be available to the general public during labour disputes. Essential services are those that if interrupted would endanger the life, personal safety or health of the public, or that are necessary to maintain and administer the rule of law and public security.

An essential services agreement is not required in negotiations; however, one must be negotiated and agreed to by both parties and accepted by the Alberta Labour Relations Board before a mediator can be appointed. A mediator might be necessary if an impasse is reached during collective bargaining when one or both parties decide no further progress is possible through negotiation discussions. Ultimately, a work stoppage (strike or lockout) can occur if dispute resolution methods, including mediation, are not successful. You can read more about the overall negotiations process in the FAQ section.

Essential services agreement negotiations are ongoing until an agreement is reached. Collective bargaining can continue concurrently with essential services negotiations.

Essential services agreements must identify:

• a list of the essential services for their particular organization
• job classifications and number of employees affected
• procedures for assigning essential services to be performed
• procedures for responding to emergencies and any foreseeable changes to essential services
• changes to terms and conditions of employment that apply during a work stoppage (if any)
• umpires to resolve disputes during a work stoppage

The primary principle in a work stoppage scenario is that all work performed by members of the union stops, including research. The definition of essential services under the Alberta Labour Relations Code is very narrow. The only services that are required by legislation to be covered by an essential services agreement are those that if interrupted would:

• endanger the life of the public;
• endanger the personal safety of the public;
• endanger the health of the public; or,
• that are necessary to maintain and administer the rule of law and public security.

In addition, the ESA between AASUA and the university includes a Research At Risk of Irreparable Damage list outlining research work permitted to continue if a legal work stoppage should occur.

The university and AASUA have negotiated an essential services agreement (ESA).

The university is currently in negotiations with NASA on an essential services agreement.

The university and AASUA have acknowledged a joint interest in protecting the most vulnerable research during a legal work stoppage (strike or lockout) not covered by an essential services agreement (ESA). The Research At Risk of Irreparable Damage list has been developed to identify this research work and is intended to be included as part of the ESA.

The process agreed to by the university and AASUA is novel in Alberta and permits significantly more research to continue during a legal work stoppage than is otherwise considered under the legislation.

The parties have defined “Research At Risk of Irreparable Damage” as ongoing research and/or materials for teaching where the following will occur in the event of a work stoppage:

• catastrophic damage to plant and animal life,
• catastrophic loss of decomposable and/or live materials,
• catastrophic damage to equipment or supplies, or
• irreversible and irreplicable loss of non-repeatable research in progress

Researchers included on this list would be permitted to access campus and utilize university resources during a work stoppage in order to preserve and protect this research. Researchers would not be paid. 

All other research and work by AASUA members would stop during a legal work stoppage.

The university and AASUA both agreed to the definitions and process for developing the Research at Risk of Irreparable Damage list. Details on the submission process and criteria were outlined in a joint communication that was sent to researchers on Nov. 21, 2024. A copy of that communication is available here for reference.

Submissions were thoughtfully considered by the university against that criteria. Research that was considered for inclusion in the list were a part of at least one of three categories:

• Continued longitudinal research studies involving animals (i.e., studies where animals have already been enrolled and under treatment).
• Clinical research where patients are actively undergoing treatment or post-treatment monitoring.
• Researchers whose labs provide testing or drug manufacturing support for human clinical trials.

As agreed by the university and AASUA, there is no appeal process and the decision is final and binding.

The university is taking steps to help ensure that animal welfare and sensitive equipment and resources not covered in this list would be maintained in the event of a legal work stoppage.

An impasse in collective bargaining is reached when one or both bargaining parties decide no further progress is possible through negotiations.

Upon reaching an impasse, there are a number of dispute resolution methods the parties can access, such as mediation. Ultimately, an impasse can lead to a work stoppage, following several mandated steps as set out in the Alberta Labour Relations Code, the legislation that governs collective bargaining and strike/lockout processes.

The decision to go on strike and cease working for the University of Alberta is entirely within the discretion of each union, and requires a simple majority vote by the members.

There are several requirements before unions can hold a legal strike, or an employer a lockout. These include:

• The collective agreement between the union and the employer must be expired.
• The parties must enter into collective bargaining.
• The parties must have an essential services agreement and have the agreement accepted for filing by the Alberta Labour Relations Board.
• The parties must work with a government- appointed mediator.
• A 14-day cooling-off period must elapse following mediation.
• An Alberta Labour Relations Board-supervised strike vote (unions) or lockout poll (employers) must be taken and a majority of those voting must agree to the strike or lockout.
  One party must serve the other (as well as the mediator) with 72 hours of notice before the strike or lockout commences.

For more information see the Alberta Labour Relations Board

A strike involves the stoppage of work of two or more employees for the purpose of compelling their employer to agree to terms or conditions of employment. Employees are unpaid for the duration of any strike.

A lockout involves the employer’s suspension of work by employees for the purpose of compelling employees to agree to terms of conditions of employment. Employees are unpaid for the duration of any lockout.

For more information: Alberta Labour Relations Board: Strike & Lockout FAQ

A strike vote is taken by a union to determine if their members are prepared to go on strike. A union only requires a simple majority (more than 50 per cent ‘yes’ votes) to receive approval to issue a strike notice to the employer and its membership. Once the membership approves a strike option through voting, the union has approval to issue a strike notice for 120 days without further consultation with its members. After 120 days, a strike vote expires, and a new strike vote would need to be held. A union’s decision to go on strike applies to all of its members regardless if an individual member voted for a strike or not. 

For more see the Alberta Labour Relations Board’s Guide to Alberta’s Labour Relations Laws

There are financial and monitoring obligations that continue, but there are no obligations to continue the research work itself.

The primary principle in a work stoppage scenario is that all work performed by members of the union stops. This means a strike at the university would have a significant and direct impact on students. The extent of financial, learning and service impacts would depend on the duration of the strike, timing in the academic calendar, and which union was on strike. The university is committed to working to reduce any impacts on students in the event a union chose to go on strike.

A work stoppage would have very real, disruptive impacts on university operations and activities, including research. For employees that are not participating in a legal work stoppage:

• You would continue to be expected to report for work.
• Pay, benefits and employment entitlements would continue for employees not on strike/lockout, even if their work or research is disrupted or they are otherwise unable to perform duties because of the work stoppage.
• Workload and duties would remain the same for bargaining unit employees but supervision, safety and other considerations might modify what duties and tasks are performed.
• Supervision might change depending on which bargaining unit is on strike/lockout.

There are a number of things that would stop for striking or locked out employees in the event of a work stoppage at the university (not applicable to designated essential services workers):

• Pay stops
• Benefits stop (except where unions choose to pay for insured benefits in accordance with the Labour Relations Code, and for all other benefits where the university permits the union to pay for continuance)
• No WCB coverage
• Pension contributions and accrual of pensionable service stop and cannot be bought back
• CCID is suspended (no email, Google Drive or other access to university assets)
• No access to university property, facilities or resources (except for individuals specified in the ESA and Research At Risk of Irreparable Damage list)
• University-issued cellular phones, phone lines and voicemails suspended
• New research grant applications are not processed
• P-cards are deactivated
• Sabbaticals stop and people are recalled if away
• Field research stops and researchers are recalled
• Workers on travel for work are recalled home
• Staff on secondment to MAPS positions revert to their bargaining unit positions