With less than two days to strike action, the Alberta government stepped in to prevent educational support workers with the Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) from hitting the picket line.
CUPE Local 3550, which represents about 3,200 employees, including educational assistants, library technicians and administrative assistants, had planned to walk off the job over what they describe as unsustainable wages and unsafe working conditions due to overcrowded classrooms. The labour action was set for October 24.
In an October 22 government news release, however, the province announced that no labour action could occur between the EPSB and CUPE 3550 because a disputes inquiry board (DIB) had been established before the labour action began.
“Alberta’s government is providing another mediator to the parties in this dispute,” said Matt Jones, minister of Jobs, Economy and Trade, “so that there is a full opportunity for the parties to reach a negotiated settlement before a work disruption occurs.”
This move by the government prevents a union from striking and the employer from locking out employees until the inquiry process has concluded, which could take up to 30 days.
The EPSB had requested the government to establish the DIB.
CUPE Local 3550 president Mandy Lamoureux expressed disappointment at the government’s move to halt labour action, stating that the union’s members have seen little wage growth over the past 12 years. The majority of the union’s members earn around $27,000 to $30,000 a year, which is well below Edmonton’s living wage of $46,000 a year.
CUPE 3550 were ready to strike over the wage issue. A week earlier, 97 per cent of the membership voted in favour of strike action. It would have been the first-ever strike by the local.
The government’s decision to establish the DIB came on the heels of another looming strike that would affect public education in the province’s capital city. CUPE Local 474, which represents the EPSB’s 900 custodial workers, held strike votes on October 17 and 20. Their membership also voted 97 per cent in favour of a strike.
In a letter published on CUPE’s website, Local 474 president Barry Benoit joined Lamoreaux in stating that the provincial wage mandate of 2.75 per cent remains a major roadblock and is nowhere near what their members deserve.
“We have seen a degradation of service at our public schools due to years of underfunding, but that trend doesn’t have to continue,” said the letter. “We need more money injected directly into classrooms and facilities, supporting frontline workers who support our students during this round of collective bargaining.”
CUPE Alberta president Rory Gill issued a news release criticizing the government’s decision to establish a DIB.
“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,” Gill wrote in the news release. “We see imposing a DIB while maintaining wage directives as an attempt to bully CUPE members into taking the government’s wage mandate.”
At the time of printing, CUPE Local 474 had not yet served the employer with a 72-hour notice to strike.
DIBs outBack in September, the province appointed a dispute inquiry board (DIB), which temporarily postponed a strike that was set to take place on Sept. 17 in Fort McMurray. The labour action was to involve 1,065 educational assistants (EAs), librarians, administrative and maintenance staff, and custodians with CUPE. The DIB was set to last 30 days, which paused any further action (strike or lockout) by either party. A deal offered to the support staff was recently rejected by the union’s bargaining committee. At the time of publication, the union members had not voted on the deal. Should CUPE members working at Fort McMurray’s Catholic and public schools reject the deal, a new strike notice would likely be issued. |
