'Vulnerable students' protected during rotating strikes in Fort McMurray schools: Unions

A rally in support of Fort McMurray educational workers can be seen in a photo posted to social media. (Facebook/Wood Buffalo and District Council)

Fort McMurray educational staff went on strike Wednesday – almost two months after they voted to take job action.

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CUPE Locals 2545 and 2559 represent education staff – like librarians, maintenance workers and educational assistants – in Fort McMurray's public and Catholic schools.

The rotating strike will affect staffing at different Catholic and public schools each day, with members picketing for "safer schools, fair wages and respect."

According to CUPE, the public school division delivered a lockout vote notice to Local 2545 members, but there's no word yet on when trustees are expected to vote on it.

On Friday, CUPE Local 2545 president Lynn Fleet said in a press release that workers will carry out the strike as planned and "respond to the lockout vote as events unfold."

"In the meantime, we urge parents, supporters and the community to contact the public school board trustees and encourage them to vote against a lockout."

"The rolling strikes will no doubt create a disruption for families. However, rolling strikes also mean that our most vulnerable students won’t fall behind," added Danielle Danis, president of CUPE Local 2559. "They will still get socialization, education, and care on the days we are not picketing.

"A lockout would rob children of the services they need for an undetermined length of time. This would be chaotic for families."

The Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) and the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL) all voiced their support for the strike.

AFL president Gil McGowan called it "just the tip of the iceberg."

"Pay for Alberta’s education support workers has always been far below what they need and deserve. But it has been allowed to lag behind inflation to a disgraceful degree," McGowan said in a Wednesday statement.

"These are the workers that our children rely on to assist them in class, supervise them at recess, and help them through tough lessons.

"Many members are having to take second and third jobs just to be financially able to continue this important work."

DIB rejected

More than 1,000 CUPE Locals 2545 and 2559 members first voted in favour of striking in September, citing a breakdown in negotiations over wages.

The day before the strike, the Government of Alberta stepped in and appointed a Disputes Inquiry Board (DIB) to help sides reach an agreement.

During the 30-day DIB period, workers' were legally not allowed to take job action.

The decision sparked anger among workers and their unions, who called the move a "flagrantly anti-democratic violation of workers' right to free collective bargaining."

Last week, union members rejected the recommendations made by the DIB and filed a formal strike notice.

The Fort McMurray Public School Division released a statement on its website on Nov. 7, calling the unions' demands "fiscally impossible" under the current education funding model in Alberta.

The division said the unions want a $6/hour retroactive raise that would cost $7.8 million in back pay. It said it is offering the same wage "accepted by 90 per cent of other support staff agreements across the province."

The AFL is calling on the Alberta government to remove wage caps and increase what school boards can afford to offer at the bargaining table.

"We also call on the UCP (United Conservative Party) to provide the necessary funding to cover the cost of significant wage increases for these essential workers," McGowan said.