WAINWRIGHT, ALBERTA – Two groups of rural education workers in east central Alberta have taken strike votes. CUPE 1606, which represents 250 workers at the Buffalo Trail School Division and CUPE 5352 representing 125 workers at East Central Catholic School Division have both completed successful votes to strike.

Neither group has announced plans to serve 72-hour strike notice, however, CUPE has been notified that Buffalo Trail School Division may serve lockout notice.

Both school divisions cover the communities of Wainwright, Vermillion and other parts of east central Alberta.

Nine other groups of education support staff, 6,600 workers in total, are on strike in Fort McMurray, Edmonton, Sturgeon, Parkland, Black Gold, Calgary and Foothills School Division. Employees of Grande Yellowhead School Division also took a recent strike vote, but have not announced strike notice yet.

The main issue is wages and funding of education. The average education support worker makes just $34,500. Alberta has the lowest per capita education funding in Canada.

“The government is using fear and intimidation as bargaining tactics,” said CUPE 1606 President Trish Thomas. “They are trying to bully us into accepting a deal that is not in the best interest of our members or students.”

“A good education requires well paid, satisfied support staff,” said CUPE 5352 President Coree Girard. “We don’t want to strike, but we need to take action to protect students.”

EDSON, ALBERTA – Another group of education support workers could soon join a growing province wide strike.

One hundred and sixty support staff at Grand Yellowhead School Division voted 82% in favour of strike action. The results were counted on Friday. The workers, members of CUPE Local 1357, have been without a contract since 2021. The Division operates schools in the communities of Jasper, Hinton, Edson, Grande Cache and others.

Nine other groups of education support staff, 6,600 workers, are on strike in Fort McMurray, Edmonton, Sturgeon, Parkland, Black Gold, Calgary and Foothills School Division. The main issue is wages and funding of education.

“The average school support worker in Alberta makes $34,500,” said CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill. “Many workers have gone ten years without a wage increase. Alberta has the lowest per-capita education funding in Canada.”

Gill says low wages are hurting learning efforts inside the classroom, noting that it’s difficult to hire new staff at such low wages.

The union has not yet provided 72-hour strike notice, nor has it indicated when it might do that.

“School support workers don’t want to strike. It’s a last resort,” said Gill “They care about students and don’t want to walk away. But doing nothing will hurt students even more.”

Support staff at Parkland School Division latest to put up picket lines

STONY PLAIN/SPRUCE GROVE. AB – About 400 education support workers at Parkland School Division will begin full strike action today. The workers have been engaged in ‘work-to-rule’ since February 18.

The workers join 6,000 other striking educational support workers in Fort McMurray, Edmonton, Leduc, Sturgeon, Calgary and the Okotoks region.

CUPE Local 5543 Vice President Chrissy Nickel said the workers had wanted to give the province a chance to address the strike issues, but we’re disappointed by their lack of concern.

“The purposeful underfunding of education has left classrooms without the support staff they need, directly impacting students—those with complex needs, those in mainstream classes, and those who require additional assistance to understand the curriculum.”

Nickel said the workers will put up picket lines today at the Parkland School Division office at 4300 43 St, Stony Plain.

“We understand the impact this has on students, especially students with special needs,” said Nickel. “However, students are being negatively affected by low wages, high turnover of staff, and vacancies in support positions. A good education requires well paid, satisfied support staff.”

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.”

CALGARY, AB – Two more groups of education support workers have filed 72-hour strike notice, meaning four groups in total will take job action on Monday.

CUPE Local 3484, representing 570 support staff at Black Gold School Division, and CUPE Local 5040, representing 300 support staff at Foothills School Division, both served strike notice last evening. Both groups expect to begin job action on Monday morning.

CUPE Local 40 (Calgary Board of Education, 800 employees) and CUPE Local 520 (Calgary Catholic School Division, 350 employees) have already served strike notice and also expect to begin job action on Monday.

The workers join 4,000 education support workers already on strike in Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and Sturgeon School Division. A further 400 employees of Parkland School Division started work to rule on Tuesday.

The average school support worker in Alberta makes just $34,500. Many have gone almost a decade without a wage increase, a period of 30% inflation.

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill said that striking is a final resort for education support staff, but they feel they have no other option. He said that members don’t like to leave their students, but they know doing nothing will only make a bad situation worse.

“We went too long without a meaningful wage increase, during periods of record inflation,” said Gill. “Many staff work multiple jobs and some rely upon the food bank. People who are responsible for our children’s education deserve better.”

Gill noted that Alberta has the lowest per capita education funding in Canada. He says ‘mandates’ from the province restrict the wages school divisions can offer.

“We need the province to step up and help,” said Gill. “They brought us to this point, they need to take responsibility.”

CALGARY, AB – The union representing custodial and maintenance workers at the Calgary Board of Education (CBE) and the Calgary Catholic School District (CCSD) will serve 72-hour strike notice today.

About 800 employees at the CBE, members of CUPE Local 40, voted 94.5% in favour of a strike last week. A further 350 employees of CCSD, members of CUPE Local 520, voted 94% in favour of a strike.

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill said the union expects to walk out on Monday morning. Picket line locations will be announced later this week. There may be some impact on community events happening at schools over the weekend as workers will be in a strike position.

The workers join 4,000 education support workers already on strike in Edmonton and Fort McMurray. About 400 employees of Parkland School Division started limited job action yesterday. Other groups, including workers at Foothills and Black Gold school divisions, are in a position to go on strike soon.

The average school support worker in Alberta makes just $34,500. Many have gone almost a decade without a wage increase, a period of 30% inflation.

Gill said his members don’t want to strike, but they feel they have been left with no other options.

“Many of our members work two or three jobs,” said Gill. “Many live on the edge of poverty.”

Gill said the workers hoped the provincial government would respond to the strikes happening in Fort McMurray and Edmonton, saying a settlement there would likely prevent a strike in Calgary.

“Unfortunately, the province doesn’t seem to respect the role of education support workers. So that leaves us little option but to escalate the strike.”

Gill said custodial and maintenance workers play a key role in schools, keeping buildings clean and running well.

CUPE cannot comment on how the school districts will choose to operate in the absence of our members.

STONY PLAIN/SPRUCE GROVE, ALBERTA – Limited job action will start today at Parkland School Division as CUPE Local 5543 asks their 400 members to engage in ‘work-to-rule’ activities.

CUPE 5543 President Wendy Harman said members will be asked to not work beyond the hours they are paid for and to not engage in volunteer activities.

The employees voted 91% in favour of job action last week. The workers join 4,000 striking employees in Edmonton, Sturgeon County and Fort McMurray who are already on strike.

Harman said the action is part of CUPE’s plans to escalate the strike until the Alberta government addresses low wages in the sector. The average educational support worker earns just $34,500 in Alberta.

“This job action is happening because the Alberta government has not acted to address the poor wages of school support workers,” said Harman. “Alberta has the lowest per capita education funding in Canada.”

“It’s inexcusable to leave our members shortchanged and classrooms underfunded.”

Almost 2,000 additional school support workers at four other school divisions have taken strike votes but have not yet served notice to strike.

Local will begin work to rule campaign next Tuesday.

STONY PLAIN, AB/SPRUCE GROVE, AB – A group of over 400 educational support workers will serve a 72-hour strike notice today to their employer, the Parkland School Division. The employees, members of CUPE Local 5543, voted 91% in favour of job action this week.

CUPE 5543 President Wendy Harman said the union expects to begin ‘work to rule’ actions on Tuesday, February 18^th. Members will be asked to not work beyond the hours they are paid for, and not to engage in any volunteer activities at their jobs.

The workers join 4,000 striking employees in Edmonton, Sturgeon County and Fort McMurray who are already on strike.

Harman said the action is part of CUPE’s plans to escalate the strike until the Alberta government addresses low wages in the sector. The average educational support worker earns just $34,500 in Alberta.

“Many of our members work two to three jobs to earn a living wage.” said Harman.

Harman says her local faces ‘mandates’ from the provincial government limiting wage increases to less than inflation.

“The impact of the provincial policy of starvation wages on the classroom is staggering,” said Harman. “No one will take the jobs at these wages, it’s hard to replace sick employees, students and education are suffering.”

Harman noted that education funding in Alberta is lower than every other province in Canada.

“It’s a hard decision to vote to strike,” said Harman. “But doing nothing will make a bad situation in classrooms even worse. We’re taking action to protect education.”

Harman says CUPE will give parents and students as much notice as possible.

Almost 2,000 additional school support workers at four other school divisions have taken strike votes but have not yet served notice to strike.

Five more CUPE locals representing over 2,000 education support workers have voted to take job action.

These results are unofficial until validated by the Alberta Labour Relations Board.

The groups include:

Local 40, Calgary Board of Education (800 custodial and maintenance employees), voted 94.5% in favour of job action.
Local 520, Calgary Catholic School District (350 custodial and maintenance employees) voted 94% in favour of job action.
Local 3484, Black Gold School Division (570 EAs and support staff employees) voted 95% in favour of job action.
Local 5040, Foothills School Division (300 EAs and support staff employees) voted 82% in favour of job action.
Local 5543, Parkland School Division (400 EAs and support staff employees) voted 91% in favour of job action.

CUPE will provide school districts and the public with 72 hours notice before engaging in any job action. No such notice is being given at the moment.

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill said the strong strike mandate from all five groups is another sign that the Alberta government has to improve education funding in next week’s budget. Alberta has the lowest per-student education funding of any province in Canada.

“We’ve been telling the government that if they don’t address the funding problems in our classrooms, the strikes will expand,” said Gill. “They did not address the funding problems, and now the strikes will expand.”

Over 4,000 education support staff have been on strike in Fort McMurray and in the Edmonton region since the beginning of January.

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill issued the following statement today in response to a news release from two ministers of the Alberta government:

“The outrageous statement posted by the Alberta government today is full of falsehoods and baseless attacks.

The UCP government that repeatedly claims it is not involved in bargaining with education support workers is very quick to comment on the matter and involving itself to an unprecedented level.

Once again, rather than step up to the plate and negotiate a solution to the classroom problems they have caused, the government chooses a smear campaign.

Local 829 in Medicine Hat was put under administration for reasons unrelated to bargaining. The former executive chose to meet with the school district after being informed they were put into administration. Therefore the deal they signed has no force or effect. However, the Administrator will pursue bargaining with that school district until further notice.

The timing of the UCP attack is to draw attention away from five strike votes happening right now, and the release of recent polling data showing UCP supporters don’t even side with the government when it comes to the strike and education issues.

Other falsehoods in the statement:

• There is no injunction from the Alberta Labour Board preventing picketing. Rather, CUPE and the school district entered into an agreement that picketing would not delay school buses. This is a normal part of the labour board’s role in helping unions and employers reach agreements during labour disputes.
• “Nurse Next Door” withdrew from offering services to Edmonton Public Schools after claiming they didn’t realize they would be replacing striking workers. Not due to pressure from CUPE.

Alberta has the lowest per-capita education funding in Canada. Instead of engaging in smear campaigns, the government should come to the table, and address the issues that their lack of funding has provided.”

Background:

On February 5, 2025, at 9:11 am MST, CUPE Local 829 was placed under administration by CUPE.

On Feb 5, 2025, at about 09:21 am, Local 829 President Sharon Stoltz was informed of the administration.

On Feb 5, 2025, at about 10:00 am, the former bargaining committee signed a proposed memorandum of agreement with the Medicine Hat Public School Division.

“Administration” is a process set out in Article 7.8 of the CUPE Constitution. When a local is placed under Administration, the administrator has immediate authority over the local’s affairs, and all executive members and committees are disbanded.