CALGARY, AB – Four groups of educational support workers will set up picket lines today and join existing strikes already in progress across Alberta.
The four groups include:
CUPE Local 40, 800 employees of the Calgary Board of Education.
CUPE Local 520, 350 employees of the Calgary Catholic School Division.
CUPE Local 3484, 570 employees of Black Gold School Division.
CUPE Local 5040, 300 employees of Foothills School Division.
These workers join over 4,000 others on strikes in Edmonton, Fort McMurray and Sturgeon County. A further 400 workers at Parkland School Division are engaging in ‘work-to-rule’ actions.
CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill says his members are tired of poverty-level wages and low funding levels for education. Alberta has the lowest education funding of any province in Canada. The average school support worker in the province makes just $34,500 per year.
“A good education requires well paid, satisfied support staff,” said Gill. “Some support workers have endured 30% inflation over a decade without any wage increases.”
Gill said support workers are striking because they feel low wages are having an impact on learning. Some school districts have up to 10% vacancy rates.
“We understand the impact this has on students, especially students with special needs,” said Gill. “However, students are affected by low wages, high turnover of staff, and vacancies in support positions. Doing nothing will make things worse.”
Gill blamed the Alberta government for the situation.
“We warned the province that if they didn’t take action, the strike would spread, and today that’s coming true,” said Gill. “We want the province to take responsibility, fund our schools properly and end this dispute.”