Farmers of Alberta government that same year. CSA historical milestones include: Pensions in 1923. Group life insurance in 1934. Dues check-off in 1947. Mileage rates in 1948. A 40-hour week in 1955. Four weeks' vacation after 24 years in 1956. A classification appeal procedure in 1957. The first CSA agreement with a board in 1958 — for Branch 23 at the University of Alberta Hospital. Medical premiums half covered by the employer in 1967. New legislation that recognized the CSA as sole bargaining agent for employees of the Crown, as well as certain boards and agencies, in 1968. The Creation of AUPE While the CSA had grown enormously in size and vitality by the late 1970s, surpassing 30,000 members, its leaders recognized the need for legal recognition as a full-fledged union. In the spring of 1974, 300 members in Department of Health & Social Development demonstrated against an arbitrary change in statutory holiday entitlements. The government backed down. That same season, employees of the Alberta Liquor Control Board went on strike for 10 days, winning substantial wage increases. This unrest culminated on October 1, 1974, when 12,500 direct government employees walked off the job for two days because the government had arbitrarily imposed a pay increase six days before bargaining was due to commence. They won their point again, and the government agreed to negotiate in good faith. On June 14, 1976, the Legislature repealed the Civil Service Association of Alberta Act, and the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees was legally born. On the day of its formation, AUPE boasted a budget of $3.4 million. T.W. (Bill) Broad, the last president of the CSA, was chosen as the first president of the new union at its founding convention held November 18–20, 1976, at the Chateau Lacombe Hotel in Edmonton. Convention decisions, however, still had to be approved by government, as the union operated under the Societies Act. This changed on November 17, 1977, when AUPE met to change its status into an unincorporated trade union. All aspects of the CSA were transferred into the new union. The Public Service Employee Relations Act (PSERA) received Royal Assent on May 18, 1977, giving AUPE bargaining rights for each group of employees for which it had a collective agreement. These arrangements were ratified at the union's second convention at the Palliser Hotel in Calgary. However, PSERA had been passed over the objections of