UCP, CUPE at arms over strikes; gov’t says fear tactics used in the Hat

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on February 12, 2025.

newsdesk@medicinehatnews.com

On Tuesday the province’s finance and education ministers released a joint statement claiming CUPE National is interfering with local negotiations between school boards and local union chapters, citing an agreement between the Medicine Hat Public School Division and Local 829.

Finance Minister Nate Horner and Education Minister Demertrio Nicolaides said in a statement, “In Medicine Hat, following an agreement between the Medicine Hat Public School Division and CUPE local 829, the national leadership of CUPE effectively deregistered the local to prevent a ratification vote.”

Last week the News discovered five executive members of Local 829, including its present and vice-president, were placed under administration on Feb. 5 by CUPE National, removing them from their duties.

Local union leaders were notified they were being removed from their positions within an hour before signing a document with MHPSD that would allow its local members, approximately 250 educational support workers, to vote on a new four-year collective agreement.

Former president Sharon Stolz says some members were not informed they had been removed from their executive position before signing the document with the school division. CUPE says because those members were placed under administration before the document was signed, it is now null and void.

The ministers’ joint statement also calls on the Alberta Labour Relations Board to issue an injunction to prevent union activists from blocking Sturgeon School Division school buses, and claims the union pressured a nursing agency in Edmonton to withdraw service to administer insulin and other medications to medically fragile students, forcing them to stay home.

“This pattern of behaviour is disturbing and shows that education support workers who do not yet have a deal will not be permitted to vote on one, under fear of de-registration by union leaders in Ontario,” reads the ministers’ statement. “At the end of the day the antics and disturbing action taken by union leaders in Ontario is causing extremely detrimental effects to learning outcomes for Alberta students.”

The government is calling for CUPE National to allow local chapters to enter the bargaining table and to “stop the tactics of fear and intimidation.”

Shortly after the UCP released its joint statement, CUPE blasted the ministers for their response, saying the joint-statement is full of falsehoods and comes at a time when five other strike votes are happening around the province.

“The outrageous statement posted by the Alberta government today is full of falsehoods and baseless attacks,” said Rory Gill, CUPE Alberta president. “The UCP government that repeatedly claims it is not involved in bargaining with education support workers is very quick to comment on the matter, and involves itself to an unprecedented level.”

In a press release, CUPE National says Local 829 executive members were placed under administration for reasons “unrelated” to bargaining.

Stolz told the News she believes she was removed from her position because she wanted to allow local workers to vote for their own working conditions and wages.

After being told not to sign an agreement between the school division that would allow that to happen, Stolz suggested local workers may want to vote to decertify from CUPE during a conversation between herself and national union representatives.

In the release, CUPE provides a time of events that occurred following the conversation between Stolz and national representatives.

– On Feb. 5, at 9:11 am MST, CUPE Local 829 was placed under administration by CUPE.

– On Feb. 5, at about 9:21 am, Local 829 president Sharon Stoltz was informed of the administration.

– On Feb. 5, at about 10 a.m., the former bargaining committee signed a proposed memorandum of agreement with the Medicine Hat Public School Division.

– When a local is placed under administration, the administrator has immediate authority over the local’s affairs, and all executive members and committees are disbanded.

Following legal consultation, MHPSD has filed a bad-faith bargaining complaint due to CUPE National actions that expressed concern over the union’s decision to remove the local executive members who have been representing local workers.

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