Sandra Azocar, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, celebrates after announcing details of a tentative agreement for nursing care workers on Nov. 22, 2025 in Edmonton. Greg Southam/Postmedia

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The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees is marking half a century since the province’s public-sector workers first banded together to found a new union.

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Founded in 1976, AUPE started as the Civil Service Association (CSA) in 1919 with only 400 members. Soon, the organization became severely restricted under the 1968 Civil Service Association of Alberta Act that limited how much power the CSA could negotiate with the government about workers’ rights.

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After eight long years, the law was repealed and AUPE was formed.

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AUPE is now one of the largest unions in Alberta, with more than 109,000 members representing workers across education, health care, government employees and boards and agencies.

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President Sandra Azocar said a lot has changed since she joined the association in 1987.

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“You know, we’ve had quite a few fights,” said Azocar. “When it comes to improving the working environment for our members, we have seen a real growth in our union.

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“I think what people forget (is) that the services that we provide impact absolutely everybody’s life.”

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Azocar said the milestone serves as an opportunity to reflect on AUPE’s accomplishments.

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“Fifty years speaks to the resilience that we have had as an organization,” said Azocar. “We were born from the unwillingness of rank and file and public employees to accept secondhand or second-class treatment.

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“Having to take job action, again and again, in the face of government’s insistence that strikes are illegal, has been one of our biggest fights.”

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During her time with AUPE, Azocar has fought for many workers’ rights, including maternity leave battles, ensuring vacation entitlements were granted and closing wage gaps.

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Remembering those who came before her, Azocar thanked those in 1976 who fought for the rights of the organization.

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“I’d be very thankful for their fight,” said Azocar. “We’ve done a lot of growth thanks to their initial fighting and that always needs to be recognized. History is made by workers and we own it, and we need to take the lessons that we’ve learned from previous struggles to be able to move forward and learn from that.

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“And so, it would be an internal gratitude for their resilience and their fighting and the energy that they brought to create our union.”

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United Nurses of Alberta lauded AUPE’s achievement.

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“AUPE plays a key, significant role as a defender of public services and public health care in Alberta,” said a UNA spokesperson in a statement to Postmedia. “This is more important than ever at a time when public services generally, and the public health-care system in particular, are under attack by our provincial government.”

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UNA officials added that they “look forward to continuing to work together with (AUPE) members long into the future to defend the rights of Alberta working families and to ensure the survival of public services and public health care, which are among Canada’s greatest nation-building projects.”

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AUPE is hosting a commemorative barbecue on Aug. 15 at the Roller Palace in southeast Calgary for its members and their families.

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