Union files complaint against Town of Coaldale

By Lethbridge Herald on October 15, 2025.

Nathan Reiter
Lethbridge Herald
Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Employees of the Town of Coaldale have submitted an unfair labour practice complaint against the town.

The employees, who are represented by the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) have been locked out by the town since Sept. 6. 

In an interview with the Herald, AUPE Legal Counsel Pat Nugent says the complaint has been filed due to the town’s unwillingness to return to the bargaining table. 

“This is a very serious situation for the employees of the town and AUPE is taking its obligations seriously. AUPE wants to get an agreement and people back to work and has tried to get the town to have discussions and consider their most recent proposal. 

You’d rather not be going to the labour board to make this kind of complaint, but it has to do what it has to do because the town has said we’re not going to bargain right now.”

According to AUPE’s news release, the town’s reasoning for delaying bargaining was due to vacations and the upcoming municipal election. The town has offered to meet with the AUPE negotiating team on Nov. 17-18. 

Nugent says the election should not interfere with the bargaining process. 

“From AUPE’s perspective and I think from a legal perspective, the municipal election is irrelevant to the party’s ongoing obligations to meet and engage in bargaining discussions and potentially reach a  bargaining resolution. There’s nothing in the Labour Code that allows a party to say that ‘we got this process going on and we’re not going to meet until that process is concluded.’”

AUPE submitted a proposal to the Town on Thursday, Oct. 2. During an Oct. 6 meeting, Coaldale town council voted unanimously to acknowledge receipt of the AUPE proposal. Mayor Jack Rijn stated in a news release that the town would not proceed with negotiations until the completion of the election and a new council is sworn in.

“We determined it would be irresponsible for this council to bind the next one, as well as residents to a multi-year collective agreement with AUPE,” Van Rijn said in the release. “Out of respect for voters, we need to let the democratic process play out so a newly elected Council can look at this situation with fresh eyes and get up to speed on the file.” 

AUPE says the town still needs to fulfill duties in sections 12 and 16 of the Labour Relations Code. Nugent says delaying for the election wouldn’t be an issue if the town hadn’t locked out its employees. 

“If this was in a non-lockout or non-strike situation where the parties were business as usual of having their bargaining discussion, that wouldn’t seem like an outrageous delay. In the context of a lockout where these employees have already been out of work for five weeks and by the time these meetings would take place, they’d be out of work for 10 weeks, it’s not acceptable and it’s not compliant with the town’s obligations under the Labor Relations Code.”

Meanwhile, The Coaldale Chamber of Commerce has also conducted a survey on the labour dispute with various members of the business community. 

Of the 31 respondents in the survey, 93 per cent believe that the Town’s salary offer is higher than comparable positions in the private sector and 75% expressed concern that rising salaries could result in higher business or property tax in the town. In addition, 77 per cent believed that above-market municipal wages could impact the long term sustainability of their business. 

Sixty per centof respondents said they were somewhat to extremely concerned about the state of negotiations between AUPE and the Town of Coaldale. 

“The Chamber’s role is not to take sides but to ensure that the voice of local business is heard,” Coaldale Chamber of Commerce president Robert Woolf said in a press release. “Our members recognize that fair compensation is important, but we also want to maintain a balance that keeps Coaldale competitive, sustainable, and attractive for both employers and employees.”

We encourage both the town and AUPE to find solutions that protect vital public services without creating unintended burdens on small businesses or taxpayers.”