Educational support workers at Edmonton Public Schools to hold strike votes this week

Educational support staff at Edmonton Public Schools will hold strike votes over the coming days.

Voting began at 6 a.m. for members of CUPE Local 3550 as part of a one-day virtual strike vote.

The union and Edmonton Public Schools were at the bargaining table on Tuesday and CUPE said the employer made a verbal offer to extend the contract from four to eight years, but nothing had changed about its position to hold wages to the provincial government's cap of 2.75 per cent over the first four years.

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"That’s about 70 cents over four years," said CUPE Local 3550 president Mandy Lamoureux in a news release. "It’s not enough."

The union says the wage rate proposed for the additional four years is not sufficient to fix the gap in wages that has developed over the last 10 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. Our bargaining committee is very committed to achieving a fair deal," said Lamoureux.

CUPE Local 474, which represents custodial staff, was also invited back to the bargaining table ahead of its in-person strike vote on Oct. 17 and 20.

The union anticipates it will receive the same offer that was extended to members of Local 3550.

"The overwhelming issue is wages having fallen so far behind," Local 474 president Barry Benoit said.

"Members are also concerned our benefits are at a lower level than any other staff group in Edmonton Public Schools."

"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," CUPE Alberta president Rory Gill said.

An Edmonton Public Schools spokesperson released the following statement on the labour dispute:

"At our invitation, we met with CUPE 3550 yesterday morning to further discussions and we remain hopeful and committed to reaching a deal."