-

CUPE Alberta President Tells Province To Avoid Bullying Education Workers Set To Strike

EDMONTON, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CUPE Local 3550 members are set to go on strike on October 24th, but their employer, Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB), has advised they intend to make a request to the Alberta government to impose a Disputes Inquiry Board (DIB).

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill sent a letter to Minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade Matt Jones asking the Alberta government to respect the bargaining process by removing provincial wage directives and letting the parties negotiate in good faith. Gill states in the letter, “there are no outstanding issues between EPSB and CUPE Local 3550 that could be resolved by a DIB as long as the government’s wage mandate remains in place.”

This provincial stall tactic was used recently against education support staff in Fort McMurray to prevent members of CUPE Locals 2545 and 2559 from being able to begin their strike. The DIB resulted in no movement or alternate proposals and simply prolonged the impasse for educational support workers in Fort McMurray. “We see imposing a DIB while maintaining wage directives as an attempt to bully CUPE members into taking the government’s wage mandate,” the letter states.

Gill urged the minister not to interfere with the constitutional right to strike, stating that if the government imposes a DIB at the request of EPSB “it will be obvious that the government is acting in bad faith and has no respect for free collective bargaining.”

Contacts

Jocelyn Johnson
Communications Representative
Phone #: 780-700-5592

Industry:

Canadian Union of Public Employees

Release Versions
English

Contacts

Jocelyn Johnson
Communications Representative
Phone #: 780-700-5592

More News From Canadian Union of Public Employees

Media Advisory - NSCAD Rally

HALIFAX, NS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Striking Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (NSCAD) workers and their allies are rallying tomorrow, March 13, at 11:00 AM outside NSCAD’s Fountain Campus at Granville Mall in Halifax. Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3912 NSCAD Vice President Lachlan Sheldrick and CUPE 3912 President Lauren McKenzie will be available for interviews, along with striking workers, alumni, current undergraduate students, labour movement leaders, and other community su...

With new legal opinion, CUPE Ontario and Ontario NDP challenge Conservatives’ claims on Bill 60 and water privatization

TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--At a media conference tomorrow, leaders from CUPE Ontario and the Ontario New Democratic Party will challenge Conservative deceptions around Bill 60 and use a recently commissioned legal opinion to expose the Ford government’s plans to privatize publicly owned regional and municipal water systems. They will be joined by Simon Archer, a lawyer with Goldblatt LLP and author of the legal opinion, and Steve Young, a member of CUPE 966. WHO Marit Stiles, Leader, Ontario NDP...

Education Minister Must Immediately Release Back Pay Owed to ECEs: CUPE 4745

HALIFAX, NS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is calling on the Nova Scotia Minister of Education and Early Childhood Development (EECD) to take urgent action to ensure Early Childhood Educators (ECEs) receive the back pay they have been owed for months. Despite having earned these wages, ECEs across the province are still waiting because the Department has not authorized the funding to flow to child care centres. Without this authorization, centres cannot issue th...
Back to Newsroom