Thousands more education workers to take strike votes this weekend

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Five groups of education support workers, represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) will participate in strike votes between Feb 9-11th.

The groups include:
Local 40, Calgary Board of Education (800 custodial and maintenance employees)
Local 520, Calgary Catholic School Division (350 custodial and maintenance employees)
Local 3484, Black Gold School Division (500 secretarial, librarians and EAs)
Local 5040, Foothills School Division (300 support staff employees)
Local 5543, Parkland School Division (400 EAs and support staff employees)

Over 4,000 education support workers in the Edmonton region and Fort McMurray are already on strike.

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill says the votes are part of plans to escalate job action until the Alberta government addresses low wages of school support workers. Gill says the average educational support worker earns just $34,500 in Alberta. Alberta has the lowest per student funding of any province in Canada.

“Some support staff have gone ten years without a cost-of-living wage,” said Gill. “Many of our members work two to three jobs to earn a living wage.”

CUPE locals across the province have been bargaining since 2020, but face ‘mandates’ from the provincial government limiting increases to well below inflation.

“The impact of the UCP policy of starvation wages on the classroom is staggering,” said Gill. “People are quitting, no one will take the jobs at these wages, and students and education are suffering.”

Some school districts have job vacancy rates of roughly 10% of all positions, as schools cannot hire at such low wages.

“It is a hard decision to vote to strike,” said Gill. “But doing nothing will make a bad situation for students even worse in the long run. We need to act now to protect education in Alberta.”

Gill noted that a strike vote does not automatically mean job action will immediately follow, the province still has time to do the right thing and prevent these strikes from happening.

“We are trying to give parents as much notice as possible,” said Gill. “We know parents are in a tough spot, but we feel we have waited as long as we can, and we have to act for the long-term benefit of the students we love so much.”

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Contact Lou Arab, Communications Representative
larab@cupe.ca

 

 

Province Must Allow Free and Fair Bargaining, Say Striking Education Workers

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MORINVILLE, Alberta – Striking education support workers in Sturgeon County say the main barrier to coming to a fair agreement at the bargaining table is the provincial government.

“All along, the province has been the main obstacle, blocking our ability to settle a fair collective agreement,” says Kelly Salisbury, CUPE 4625 President. “Decent pay and working conditions for education workers are key to a high-quality education system for our kids, but the province is standing in the way with their wage mandates. We need them to stop.”

The UCP government’s bargaining mandates apply to all school divisions and include a wage cap of 2.75% over 4 years (0%, 0%, 1.5% and 1.25%) for the 2020-2024 term. Parents in Sturgeon County, and across the province, are concerned by the Alberta government’s continued hold back of public education funding that isn’t keeping up with student enrollment and interference in bargaining between school divisions and support staff.

CUPE 4625 members are holding a picket and community event on Wednesday, January 29th from 9:00am – 1:00pm at the school division office in Morinville to join with parents and supporters to send the Government of Alberta a message that it’s time to lift the unfair wage mandates causing harm to students, families, and support workers.

“When the people our kids count on at school are stretched too thin, it makes life harder for everyone,” said Courtney Loughran, the parent of a student in the Sturgeon Public School Division. “Albertans know this provincial government can afford to give education support workers a raise.”

Salisbury says CUPE 4625 members are motivated, first and foremost, by the needs of their students. “Every Alberta student has a right to quality education and the support they need. But chronic underfunding is undermining our school system, resulting in frequent staff burnout and hundreds of positions going unfilled. This makes it impossible to attract and retain the support staff schools need,” said Salisbury.

Members of CUPE 4625 and parents will be available for comment on site at the event on January 29th from 10:00am-11:00am.

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Contact:
Lou Arab, Communications Representative
larab@cupe.ca

Nearly 900 more Alberta education support workers hit bargaining impasses.

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CUPE education workers with Local 3484 (Black Gold School Division) and Local 5543 (Parkland School Division) have exhausted efforts to come to an agreement with employers.

Nearly 900 education support workers with two CUPE locals have exhausted efforts to come to a fair and reasonable agreement at the bargaining table and could join the more than 4,000 other education support workers already on strike.

“Education support workers love their students, and they love their jobs but are simply finding it more and more difficult to make ends meet,” said Wendy Harman, President of Local 5543, representing over 430 education support workers at Parkland School Division.

“Our bargaining team tried to get a fair deal with the Parkland School Division, but the main sticking point is wages. Wages are so low that vacant positions go unfilled, so the employer sometimes contracts out work by using teachers as replacements,” says Harman, noting that similar issues have caused other education support workers to strike.

“These are tough jobs, but also incredibly fulfilling. The government must step up and put more funding on the table otherwise the job action we’re seeing in other parts of the province will spread.”

Additionally, nearly 500 education support workers with CUPE Local 3484 also hit a bargaining-table impasse with their employer, Black Gold School Division. Again, the main obstacle to an agreement is wages.

“The wage offer from the employer is simply too low. Many education support workers have to work multiple jobs,” says Local 3484 President Denise Jakubowski. “Alberta cost-of-living increases over the last few years means workers are financially stretched thin to the point where they can’t afford to do the important work of helping students.”

“The main issue facing education support workers in my Local is the same faced by education support workers across Alberta and that’s wages,” says Jakubowski. “The provincial government could solve this easily. Funding for Alberta students is the lowest in Canada. All it would take is a word from Premier Smith to properly fund public education and the main reason for job action would vanish.”

Both locals are committed to a collective agreement that properly funds public education and puts students first.

 

Statement Regarding the Resignation of Trisha Estabrooks, Trustee Edmonton Public Schools

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Statement on behalf of Mandy Lamoureux, President of CUPE Local 3550 with Edmonton Public Schools, and Rory Gill, President of CUPE Alberta, on the resignation of Trisha Estabrooks as Trustee with the Edmonton Public School Board:

“On behalf of education support workers with Edmonton Public Schools, I’d like to thank Trisha Estabrooks for taking a stand for public education. As the thousands of striking workers know, it takes courage to speak up and fight for public education, students, and families. Education support workers on picket lines truly appreciate people like Trisha joining them and adding their voices to call for decent wages, good working conditions, and, most of all, respect for frontline workers.

Trisha stands with education support workers in their fight for adequate public education funding from the provincial government. Alberta has the lowest education funding in Canada per student. We deserve an education system that serves every Albertan, it will take all of us, including other school board trustees, to stand up and speak out so that the government hears us.”

  • Mandy Lamoureux, President of CUPE Local 3550

 

“Trisha served as a Trustee to the Edmonton Public School Board for seven years. In that time, she tried to protect and strengthen public education, but the provincial government simply didn’t provide enough funding. The province holds the purse strings and the only way Albertans can get them to listen is by taking a stand, much in the same way Trisha has done.

I call on elected representatives of all stripes and in all roles to speak up for public education. I call on the provincial government to finally listen to people like Trisha. Otherwise, Alberta’s families will remember. They’ll remember in the next municipal elections and they’ll remember in the next provincial election.”

  • Rory Gill, President of CUPE Alberta

Substitute teachers are being used to replace support staff

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EDMONTON – While the province continues to ignore the crisis in Alberta classrooms, Edmonton Public Schools is bringing substitute teachers into classrooms to handle the extra work normally done by education support staff. Support workers are on day three of a strike at the school district.

CUPE 3550 President Mandy Lamoureux says the board is paying $230 per day per teacher, considerably more than the wage being asked for by support workers in the strike.

“While the Alberta government tells support staff to be happy with poverty level wages, there’s apparently enough money to cover extra teachers’ salaries,” said Lamouruex. “They should be talking to us about ways to solve the real, long-term problems in Alberta classrooms.”

Lamoureux said the average education support worker in Alberta makes just $34,500, with Educational Assistants averaging even less at $26,400. Support workers have not had wage increases in ten years, a period of time in which inflation was at 30%.

“The best way to solve the crisis in the classrooms isn’t to scramble and hire a few substitute teachers,” said Lamoureux. “The best way to solve the crisis in the classrooms is to solve the underfunding problem, the low wage problem, and the recruitment problem.”

Optima Living workers join CUPE

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Workers at Red Deer Independent, Assisted and Supportive Living community voted overwhelmingly to unionize.

RED DEER – Workers at Optima Living, an independent, assisted and supportive living community in Red Deer, Alberta, voted overwhelmingly to join CUPE.

“The campaign to unionize was completed very quickly and we applied to the Alberta Labour Relations Board with strong support, said Jordan Spurr, one of the inside organizers. “For too long, workers struggled to have a voice – everyone wanted a better workplace.  Too many are just getting by, working multiple jobs for low hours and low pay.  These are the people caring for our loved ones, they deserve better.”

There are approximately 65 workers at Optima Living. Nearly 90 percent of ballots cast were in favour of joining CUPE. Employer objections to the certification application were dismissed by the Labour Board in early January. These workers will join Local 417, an established CUPE local in Red Deer, and elect their bargaining committee to start negotiating their first Collective Agreement.

 

 

Sturgeon Public School strike to escalate

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St. Albert – The union representing over 200 educational support workers at Sturgeon Public School Division is announcing they will escalate job action tomorrow.

Employees at the school division walked out for two hours this morning but went back inside for the rest of the day.  As of tomorrow, all members of CUPE Local 4625 will be on strike until there is a settlement.

CUPE 4625 President Kelly Salisbury explained that the union wanted to give the school division and the provincial government one last chance to fix the educational funding problems.

“Alberta has the lowest education funding in Canada,” said Salisbury. “Educational support workers have not had a meaningful wage increase in 10 years, a period of 30% inflation.”

Salisbury said employees are forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet. She says the poor wages make it difficult for school divisions to hire and retain staff.

“People are quitting, no one will take the jobs at these wages. Students and education are suffering,” said CUPE 4625 President Kelly Salisbury. “If we don’t take action, a bad situation for students will only get worse.”

Picket location for January 14, 2025

Sturgeon Public Schools
Frank Robinson Education Centre
9820 104 Street
Morinville, AB
8:00 am – 4:00 pm

Picket locations for January 15th onward

Namao, HWY 37 between Sturgeon Composite High and Namao School

Morinville – 9808 – 104 Street

Bon Accord – 47th avenue

Ochre Park – 52 Avenue up to Hwy 38

 

Contact:
Lou Arab, Communications Representative
larab@cupe.ca

Edmonton support workers strike begins today

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EDMONTON – Education support workers at two school districts took job action today starting this morning.

Over 200 employees of Sturgeon public schools (members of CUPE Local 4625) will take rotating job action and work to rule.

Over 3,000 employees of Edmonton public schools (members of CUPE Local 3550) will take full strike action at all schools and other board offices.

CUPE 3550 President Mandy Lamoureux said the workers love their jobs, their students, and their schools, but have been pushed to the limit.

“Some support staff have gone ten years without a cost of living wage increase,” said Lamoureux. “Many of our members work two to three jobs to earn a living wage.”

“Alberta has the lowest funding for education of any province in Canada,” said Lamoureux.

CUPE says job postings at schools are going unfilled due to poor wages. Edmonton Public School Board has a 10% vacancy rate among support staff positions.

People are quitting, no one will take the jobs at these wages. Students and education are suffering, said CUPE 4625 President Kelly Salisbury. “If we don’t take action, a bad situation for students will only get worse.”

Contact:
Lou Arab, Communications Representative
larab@cupe.ca

CUPE announces picket line locations for Edmonton job actions

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EDMONTON – CUPE Locals 3550 and 4625 announced the picket line locations for job action starting on Monday, January 13, 2025.

Picket lines will go up on January 13, 2025 @ 7:30 am MST.

Local 3550 (Edmonton Public) locations:

Ross Shepard High School
13546 111 Ave NW

ME. LaZerte High School
6804 144 Ave NW

Elder Dr. Francis Whiskeyjack High School
2410 17 St NW

Local 4625 (Sturgeon Public) locations

All schools.

“We are escalating our fight for better education funding, and more classroom support,” said CUPE 3550 President Mandy Lamoureux. “We will have family-friendly picket lines, and we encourage parents, students and members of the public to join us.”

Media Contact:
Lou Arab, Communications Representative
larab@cupe.ca

Edmonton and area school workers to serve strike notice

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CUPE will continue to escalate across the province until the UCP takes action

EDMONTON – Two groups of education support workers will serve strike notice today. The groups are both locals of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE). Job action may begin as soon as next Monday.

CUPE Local 3550 represents over 3,000 educational support staff at the Edmonton Public School Board. CUPE Local 4625 represents over 200 staff of the Sturgeon Public School Division.

Over 1,000 education support workers in Fort McMurray have been on strike since November.

CUPE 3550 President Mandy Lamoureux says the action is part of CUPE’s plans to escalate job action until the Smith government addresses low wages in the sector. Lamoureux says the average educational support worker earns just $34,500 in Alberta.

“Some support staff have gone ten years without a cost-of-living wage,” said Lamoureux. “Many of our members work two to three jobs to earn a living wage.”

Lamoureux says CUPE locals across the province have been bargaining since 2020, but face ‘mandates’ from the provincial government limiting increases to less than inflation.

“The impact of the UCP policy of starvation wages on the classroom is staggering,” said Lamoureux. “People are quitting, no one will take the jobs at these wages, and students and education are suffering.”

Lamoureux noted that there are currently 261 vacancies for support positions at the Edmonton Public School Board, roughly 10% of all positions.

CUPE 4625 President Kelly Salisbury said the situation was similar in her school district.

“It was a hard decision to vote to strike,” said Salisbury. “But doing nothing will make a bad situation for students even worse in the long run. We need to take action now to protect education in Alberta.”

Lamoureux said it is unclear how school districts will react to job action. However, she noted that during a one-day protest in the fall, principals called parents of special needs students and told them not to come to class.

“We are trying to give parents as much notice as possible,” said Lamoureux. “We know we’re putting them in a tough position, but we feel we have waited long enough and we have to act for the long term benefit of the students we love so much.”

Contact: Lou Arab, Communications Representative | larab@cupe.ca