Contract negotiations for workers at Red Deer Polytechnic and Olds College could only be described as horrible and very divisive, says a vice-president with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees.
Bobby-Joe Borodey, AUPE vice-president and Olds College employee, said Olds College actually put forward rollbacks, and negotiations at Red Deer Polytechnic are at a standstill.
"One of the biggest complaints is that the Government of Alberta is interfering in all public sector bargaining," said Borodey about government representatives attending negotiations even when the government is not the direct employer.
However Varun Chandrasekar, press secretary for the Office of the Minister of Advanced Education, said these negotiations are between Red Deer Polytechnic, Olds College, and the AUPE. The provincial government is not involved.
The AUPE represents support staff at 16 post-secondary institutions across Alberta, including 150 to 175 members at Olds College, and about 500 at RDP.
Negotiations with the AUPE started late last year at the two Central Alberta institutions.
Earlier this year RDP laid off 33 AUPE employees, and five programs were suspended, to help address its $10-million deficit for 2025-26. RDP said it was due to Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada impacts to international student enrolments, rising inflation and a zero per cent increase to base grant funding from the Government of Alberta.
But Borodey said AUPE members will continue standing up for themselves and the students they serve.
"People and programs are the first to get cut if base grant funding is not increased or rolled back. All of that ends up being on the backs of students."
She said higher post-secondary costs and program cuts force students to pursue education elsewhere, and once a student leaves the province, the likelihood of them coming back to seek employment and put down roots is very slim.
Borodey said devesting in post-secondary education means employers and the economy lose, whether it's post-secondary workers or students.
A recent bargaining update on Red Deer Polytechnic's website said negotiations with the AUPE on May 6 and 7 focused on outstanding non-monetary items. Bargaining will resume in late July when monetary proposals are expected to be exchanged.
Negotiations with the Faculty Association at Red Deer Polytechnic will also continue in late May and early June. RDP said the parties were far apart on financial aspects of a settlement.
On April 29, negotiations teams for Olds College and AUPE met for the first time since November to continue bargaining.
"The college’s negotiations team remains keenly committed to working through these matters constructively and believes there is value in continuing the conversation. We have appreciated the strong working relationships that have been established to date between the parties," said Mara-Lee Moroz, Chief People & Culture Officer, People & Culture, Olds College of Agriculture & Technology, in a statement.
"We are hopeful that ongoing dialogue will identify common ground and move us towards a resolution that reflects the priorities and realities of both the college and the AUPE membership."
