Five more education support worker unions join provincial strike

By MEDICINE HAT NEWS on February 13, 2025.

newsdesk@medicinehatnews.com

CUPE has announced five new groups of education workers have voted to join more than 4,000 education support staff who have been on strike in the Edmonton and Fort McMurray region since the early part of January.

The five CUPE locals represent an additional 2,000 education support workers who have voted to take job action, pending validation of the results by the Alberta Labour Relations Board.

More than 1,000 custodial and maintenance employees with local unions working for the Calgary Board of Education and Calgary Catholic School District voted more than 94 per cent in favour of a strike.

Additionally, more than 1,000 custodial, maintenance, education assistants and support staff employees in unions working for the Foothills School Division, Parkland School Division and Black Gold School Division have voted in favour of job action.

CUPE will provide school districts and the public 72 hours notice before engaging in any job action.

“We’ve been telling the government that if they don’t address the funding problems in our classrooms, the strikes will expand,” said Rory Gill, CUPE Alberta president. “They did not address the funding problems, and now the strikes will expand.”

In Medicine Hat, education support workers with local 829 nearly voted on a new four-year collective agreement with the MHPSD. However, last week CUPE National stripped five executive union members of their powers, including its president and vice-president, and have said the contract is null and void.

CUPE National has received backlash from the UCP; a joint statement issued Tuesday by the province’s finance and education ministers says the union is using fear tactics in Medicine Hat. The union says the province is using a false claim to interfere in ongoing job action around the province.

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