After many months and much uncertainty, the Association of Allied Health Professionals (AAHP) has successfully ratified a new agreement with the province.

“We are pleased to announce that we have ratified a new 4-year contract for our membership, with a ratification vote of over 88% in favour of accepting this tentative agreement,” said Gord Piercey, President of AAHP. “This contract is a first step in the right direction for allied health professionals and the stabilization of the healthcare system – meaning that there is more work to be done. However, we are optimistic that this new contract will put us on the path to a much stronger future.”

Following conciliation, AAHP did have outreach from Government. Whilst preparing for a potential strike vote, AAHP worked with the province to secure terms and commitments that AAHP’s negotiating team felt far outweighed those that would be achieved through job action.  

“After years of waiting to get the respect they deserve, our members finally feel like government is listening and ready to take the necessary steps to strengthen retention efforts, and recruitment capacity,” added Gord. “While this agreement sees significant movement in wages, and some positive changes to workload and standards of practice, we recognize that it will not immediately solve all the current issues facing our membership. This is why we are calling it a purposeful first step. ”

The AAHP’s membership have been determined to see issues around the JES addressed since negations began. In this new agreement, Government has committed to working jointly with the AAHP to develop and implement a new, permanent health professionals pay grid with a target for completion of one year from date of signing.