CUPE Alberta President Marle Roberts today said the NDP government’s education funding announcement is good news for students, their families, and workers.

“With 12,000 new kids entering the system in the fall, we need this additional funding,” Roberts said. “This will ensure we have well-maintained schools, with the support students need.”

Under the previous government, boards were ordered to cut their budgets, Roberts said. Boards were also told no new provincial funding would be available for the next three years, despite Alberta’s soaring enrolments.

“The previous government cut the amount of funding available to be spent on each student,” Roberts said. “This would have meant increased class sizes, more portable classrooms, program and staff cuts, less money on maintenance and student support – it would have been a disaster for students, for the learning environment, and for Alberta’s investment in our future.”

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Canadian Union of Public Employees Alberta President Marle Roberts today thanked Premier-designate Rachel Notley for keeping a campaign promise to support Alberta’s education system.

“By extending the deadlines for school boards to submit their annual budgets, the provincial government has provided critical breathing space for boards to prepare for the thousands of new students coming into our system,” Roberts said. “We are pleased to see the Premier-designate take this matter seriously and respond to it as a priority.”

With more than 12,000 new students entering the system this fall, school boards have been scrambling to figure out how to supply the classroom space, teachers, and support staff necessary. The Calgary Board of Education contemplated reducing its cleaning operations, legal services, and other supports to manage the shortfalls. We have seen cut backs of support staff in many schools all across this Province.

“It’s obvious to Albertans that we need to inject more funding into our schools,” Roberts said.

“I am very happy that Premier-designate Notley is keeping her campaign promise to make this happen.”

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Alberta Division President Marle Roberts today congratulated Premier-elect Rachel Notley and her new caucus on their ground-breaking victory in Alberta.

“I am thrilled that Albertans chose a government which supports public health care and education, strong and sustainable municipalities, and fair treatment for workers,” Roberts said.

“And I am excited that 26 of the 53 MLAs elected to the government caucus are women, the highest percentage of any government in the country,” Roberts said.

The PC government, first elected four years before Richard Nixon resigned as President of the US, had entered the election with a budget that slashed health services, failed to provide schools or staff for the increasing numbers of students this year, and threatened to erode the social fabric of the province through cuts. They also threatened to bring in regressive essential services legislation and anti-labour bargaining tactics.

“We look forward to working with a government that cares about the same things Alberta’s working families care about,” Roberts said. “Fairness, respect, accountability, and justice.”

CUPE Alberta President: Death of City of Edmonton worker affects us all

CUPE Alberta President Marle Roberts today said workers across the province are grieving after the death of a City employee and CUPE Local 30 member from an accident last week.

“I join with my union brothers and sisters across Alberta in offering our deepest condolences to this young worker’s family, and to his friends and co-workers,” she said.

“When one of us is hurt, we all feel the loss,” Roberts said. “We all pause and think about the times we’ve had near accidents, and about how our families would be affected.”

Roberts pointed out that April 28 was the International Day of Mourning for workers killed or injured on the job.

“We gathered this week to remember those we’ve lost over the past year,” Roberts said. “We also recognized the importance of improving workplace safety. It’s said that workplace accidents are almost always preventable, so it’s especially tragic when they still happen”.

“We have lost a friend, a brother, a worker, and a valuable member of our community. We are diminished by our loss,” Roberts said.

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 (April 18, 2015) Canadians attending rallies in Calgary and Edmonton to protest Bill C-51 – the federal government’s new “security” law – heard from CUPE Alberta President Marle Roberts and Treasurer Glynnis Lieb.

“The Canadian Union of Public Employees believes in democratic rights to free speech and to assembly,” Roberts said at the Calgary rally. “C-51 threatens to paint anyone who opposes this repressive government as a terrorist, with the aim of scaring people away from dissent.”

Speaking in Edmonton, Lieb said the law would allow government agencies like the health department to share personal information with the RCMP.

“Your financial records, your health records – they all become fodder for government agents,” Lieb said. “What was once considered to be the stuff of conspiracy theories is becoming the law of the land in Canada.”

Public support for C-51 has dropped to less than 33 per cent across Canada, as citizens learn more about the bill and its impacts.

“So far, only the NDP is opposing this bill in the House of Commons,” Roberts said. “We’re calling on CUPE members to write their MPs and call on them to kill this legislation.”

“C-51 must be stopped,” Roberts said.

CUPE Alberta President Marle Roberts issued the following statement in recognition of the 2015 International Women’s Day: … Read more…