Officials with the Edmonton Catholic School board are warning parents – days before school support staff are to head to the picket lines.
On Friday, the superintendent of the school board sent out a letter to parents – which said all schools would remain open in the event of a strike.
The board said there is a contingency plan in place, meant to minimize any impact on students – but the workers play an important role in the day-to-day business of the schools.
“I’d be dishonest if I said the schools will run the very same they’ve always run,” Edmonton Catholic Schools spokesperson Lori Nagy said.
For parents of severely disabled students, the district said parents would be contacted by their principal to discuss options – including the option of having a caregiver or parent attending school with the student.
“If none of those work for the parent, it is their option what next to do,” Nagy said. “If they decide that they want to keep their child home, whatever their decision is we will defer to them.”
There are just over one thousand special needs students at Edmonton Catholic Schools who need some assistance from aides – about 25 students with severe disabilities need assistance at all times.
Support staff from the board will help fill the gaps, and schools can hire temporary workers if needed – but the union is concerned because they have to go through extensive security checks staff have to go through.
“What kind of information are these people getting at, with no security check whatever,” National Union Representative Rick Klimchuk said. “That is a scary situation and the parents should be fearful of that.”
According to the school board, out of the 916 support staff who work for the district – 479 participated in the vote Wednesday – and the board’s latest offer was rejected by 277 votes.
The letter came after the union served strike notice Thursday.
Another offer was presented Thursday to the bargaining committee, but it was also rejected.
The district said it would be holding a proposal vote on their new offer next week, under the supervision of the Labour Relations Board.
The strike would put special needs assistants, secretaries and library workers on the picket lines.
The union said the job action is over wages and workload – it said the responsibilities for secretaries have increased to the point that some are experiencing health problems; it also said any wage increase that’s been given to teacher’s assistants has essentially disappeared due to cuts to hours.
With files from Amanda Anderson
