CUPE Locals 3550 and 474, Collectively Representing Over 4000 Education Support Staff in Edmonton Public Schools, to Hold Strike Votes Following Employer’s Refusal to Move From Provincial Wage Caps

EDMONTON, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Members of the CUPE Local 3550 Bargaining Committee were invited back to the bargaining table by the Edmonton Public School Board on the morning of October 15^th, less than 24 hours before the beginning of their strike vote set to be held virtually starting at 6:00am on October 16^th.

The employer made a verbal offer to extend the contract from 4 years to 8 years. Unfortunately, nothing changed in the employer’s position to hold wages to the provincial government’s cap of 2.75% over the first 4 years . “That’s about 70 cents over 4 years,” said President of CUPE Local 3550 President Mandy Lamoureux. “It’s not enough.” The wage rate proposed for the additional 4 years also fell far short of being sufficient to correct the gap in wages that has developed over the last decade.

“We know our membership needs to see more, given the years of rising cost-of-living, increasing workloads, and understaffing they’ve been enduring. Our bargaining committee is very committed to achieving a fair deal,” said Lamoureux.

This last-minute verbal proposal is an obvious attempt to dissuade members from a strike. “It is a strong-arm effort to lock us into terms they hope we will accept out of fear. It would prevent us from bringing any other items onto the table in the next round. This is not a situation we are prepared to accept,” said Lamoureux.

CUPE Local 474 has also been invited back to the bargaining table ahead of their strike vote taking place in person over two days on October 17^th and 20^th. It is anticipated that the same offer to extend the length of the contract made to Local 3550 will also be made to Local 474.

Local 474 President Barry Benoit explained that “health, safety, and respect for the work it takes to keep schools running are important to custodial staff, but the overwhelming issue is wages having fallen so far behind. He added “members are also concerned our benefits are at a lower level than any other staff group in Edmonton Public Schools.”

Education support workers have seen strong demonstrations of unity within their memberships and an enormous outpouring of support from the public. Parents are speaking out about the critical role education support plays in the safety and learning of their children at school, local businesses across the province have offered in various ways, and dozens of other unions are committing to join picket lines if strikes occur.

“The provincial government needs to recognize that their mandated wage caps aren’t acceptable, and they need to recognize it very quickly if they want to avoid a strike in Edmonton Public schools,” said Rory Gill, President of CUPE Alberta.