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Strike votes are being held this week by the union representing educational assistants and support staff at Edmonton Public Schools.
By the end of the week, strike votes will be held for more than 4,000 workers at Edmonton’s largest school division after the employer has refused to move from provincial wage caps, said the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
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An online strike vote will be held starting at 6 a.m. Wednesday for CUPE Local 3550 representing 3,152 members mainly comprised of educational assistants and support staff. CUPE Local 474 representing 950 custodial staff will be holding its strike vote in-person on Thursday and next Sunday.
A news release from CUPE said the Local 3550 bargaining committee was invited back to the bargaining table by the Edmonton Public School board on Tuesday morning. The board made a verbal offer to extend the contract to eight years from four years. However, the board did not budge on wage negotiations.
Mandy Lamoureux, president of CUPE Local 3550, said in the news release that the employer’s position to hold wages to the province’s cap of 2.75 per cent over the first four years is “not enough” and would work out to 70 cents over four years.
“We know our membership needs to see more, given the years of rising cost-of-living, increasing workloads, and understaffing they’ve been enduring,” Lamoureux said.
“Our bargaining committee is very committed to achieving a fair deal.”
CUPE Local 474 have also been invited back to the bargaining table ahead of its in-person strike vote. A news release said it anticipates the same offer to extend the length of the contract made to Local 3550.
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Local 474 president Barry Benoit said the “overwhelming issue” of wages has fallen far behind what is needed.
“Members are also concerned our benefits are at a lower level than any other staff group in Edmonton Public Schools,” Benoit said.
Both bargaining agents were in a 14-day cooling-off period and CUPE said while the union has compromised on a number of issues and was able to find common ground on non-monetary issues, the wage offer from Edmonton Public Schools was “unacceptable.” Large class sizes and maintenance of schools are some of the other issues at the forefront of negotiations
Members of CUPE Local 3550 representing Edmonton Public Schools support staff have not seen an agreement in more than four years. Its last collective bargaining agreement ended on Aug. 31, 2020.
Postmedia has reached out to Edmonton Public Schools for comment.
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