Local union board removed by CUPE national within an hour of signing deal with MHPSD

By BRENDAN MILLER on February 8, 2025.

bmiller@medicinehatnews.com

Five executive members of CUPE local 829, including its president and board, were placed under administration by national CUPE representatives and were informed they were being removed of their union duties less than an hour before signing a deal with the Medicine Hat Public School Division to allow its members to move forward to vote in a new collective agreement.

The News has learned that Sharon Stolz, who served as president of Local 829 for more than 12 years, was removed Wednesday from her position as president of CUPE local, representing more than 250 local educational support workers, along with four executive board members, including the vice president and treasurer.

A national CUPE representative informed Stolz she had been placed under administration at 9:21 a.m. on Feb. 5.

At the time, Stolz says, she was driving toward Calgary with her husband to attend a medical appointment at the Foothills Hospital.

Stolz says she was unable to inform other executives of the Local 829 branch that they had been removed from their positions until the medical appointment finished at noon.

At 10 a.m. Local 829 executive members, who were yet to know they’d been removed from their positions, met with MHPSD officials to sign a legal document to allow members to vote on a new four-year collective agreement that includes an approximate 12 per cent wage increase.

However, since those executives had been removed just prior to signing the document with MHPSD, CUPE national representatives say that document is null and void, and Local 829 workers will not have an opportunity to vote on the proposed conditions negotiated between the local union and the school division.

“This is just the most disgusting thing I’ve ever seen,” says Stolz, who told the News tempers between herself and national CUPE representatives were high during a meeting between the two parties on the prior evening to Feb. 4.

Stolz says CUPE national representatives informed her they did not want local members to have the opportunity to vote on the new collective agreement because thousands of union members across the province are currently on strike, many in northern Alberta.

“National (CUPE) didn’t want us to take it to our membership because they’re trying to get everybody to hold off and be on the same page across Alberta,” she explains.

Stolz says working conditions and wages in Medicine Hat differ from working conditions and wages in the province’s capital, and told national CUPE representatives Tuesday that workers in the Hat have a right to vote for their own agreements.

“They pushed me too far in that call because I don’t believe it is their democratic right to make us do what they want us to do,” she says. “(Members) have the right to make their own decision on what they want to do, whether they want to accept the proposal or if they want to decline them, that is entirely up to them, it’s not up to us (as executive members) to make that decision.

“We are not the same as northern Alberta, the cost of living is cheaper here and members, they’re different, it’s a different breed down here.”

Stolz believes she was removed from her position because she suggested local workers might want to also vote to decertify from the union.

CUPE communications representative Lou Arab would not specify CUPE’s decision to place local 829 under administration, saying it was done for “other reasons” and was unrelated to ongoing strikes across the province.

“Administration has no connection to the situation with striking locals,” said Arab. “The administration was done for other reasons.”

Although local union executives have been removed from their positions, they are still members of CUPE. Arab explains when a local union is placed under administration, representatives at a national level appoint an administrator who then has immediate authority over the local union, including its affairs and finances, and all executive members and committees are disbanded.

“It needs to be ratified and re-ratified by the national executive board,” explains Arab. “It’s a decision of the national president, but then it goes to the national executive board later for re-ratification.”

Moving forward CUPE national says local workers will not be able to vote on a proposed agreement with the local school division and would not provide a timeline of when wage discussions could resume.

“It’s our position that the proposed agreement that was signed is null and void, because the people who signed it did not have the authority and they knew they did not have the authority to sign that,” said Arab.

MHPSD board chair Catherine Wilson responded to the situation in a statement to the News on Friday evening.

“On Feb. 5, MHPSD and CUPE Local 829 bargaining committee reached a tentative agreement, however CUPE National withheld support, preventing the local from presenting the agreement to its members for a vote. MHPSD, after consulting legal counsel, filed a bad faith bargaining complaint due to CUPE National’s actions. This complaint expresses concern regarding CUPE National’s decision to remove the Local’s executive from representing its members.

“MHPSD remains hopeful that members will have the opportunity to review and vote on the tentative agreement, which we believe is fair and beneficial to our staff. The tentative agreement was reached in good faith through compromise and collaboration; we are committed to open communication and optimistic about a resolution. We value the hard work and commitment of our support staff. They are integral members of our school communities; they bring passion and dedication into their work, and we appreciate everything they do to support our students, staff and overall success.”

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