Members of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta (HSAA), who represent paramedics as well as other health professionals, will be voting on a tentative new contract with Alberta Health Services (AHS) on July 29.

HSAA vice-president and bargaining committee chair Leanna Alfaro says a tentative agreement has been reached after two years of pandemic-forced delays, months of bargaining, and weeks of voluntary mediation.

The bargaining team has recommended accepting this deal and will now be its details with its membership over the coming weeks.

Alfaro says the tentative agreement includes pay increases, a bonus, more than 70 gains negotiated between the parties before mediation, and the removal of all rollbacks and concessions originally sought by AHS. No further details were available at the time of this writing.

In a written statement, Alberta Finance minister Jason Nixon thanked AHS and HSAA for their efforts.

“If ratified, this deal will ensure long-term labour stability in the healthcare system," states Nixon.

HSAA represents over 27,000 paramedical technical, paramedical professional, and general support employees in more than 240 healthcare disciplines.

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