CUPE Local 2550 Serves Strike Notice to Greater St. Albert Catholic Schools

MORINVILLE, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Education support staff with CUPE Local 2550, serving schools in Morinville and Legal with the Greater St. Albert Roman Catholic Separate School Division, are set to begin a work-to-rule campaign on September 3, 2024.

Work-to-rule allows the members to engage in minimal strike action, setting up information pickets outside schools in the district for one hour each morning. Support staff often take on additional work to support students in the district but work to rule limits their responsibilities to essential job activities.

The union and the employer reached an impasse in collective agreement negotiations in June after the school division refused to remove a proposal that would see wages cut by up to 10% for some new employees.

“This strike is about protecting quality education for our kids,” said CUPE 2550 President Mary Morin. “Education scores are already declining in this division and wage cuts will only worsen these trends.”

After eight years of zero wage increases, the employer’s wage offer is nowhere near enough to keep up with Alberta’s rising cost of living. Support staff at Greater St. Albert Catholic make on average $34,000 per year.

If the employer is allowed to hire lower paid workers, they are incentivized to further reduce the hours of the experienced staff working with our most vulnerable kids.

“School support staff are poorly paid across Alberta. We pride ourselves on the care we provide students and their families, but it can be hard to focus on your kids when you have to work two or even three jobs just to pay the bills,” said Morin.

If the employer continues to push a deal that does not offer adequate wage gains for members and attempts to cut wages for new employees, the local will consider escalating strike actions.

Information pickets will go up first thing Tuesday morning September 3, 2024 should the local not reach a deal with their employer over the weekend.