Last week, I wrote an article about how education support workers at 3 school districts are taking strike action after their employers refused to make significant changes to their offers during contract negotiations.
One of those school districts is the Calgary Board of Education, which employs about 800 education support workers.
These workers gave their mandated 72-hour notice last week to their employer.
Since their employer refused to respond to the strike notice by budging on their offer, the workers started their picket line today, joining over 4,000 eduction support workers in Edmonton, Fort McMurray, and Sturgeon County, who have already been on strike.
Instead of coming back to the bargaining table to hammer out a deal with the workers, the Calgary Board of Education used that time to hire scab workers.
By contracting out the labour that the workers normally perform, the employer mitigates the impact of withdrawn labour, which reduces the pressure to get back to negotiations.
For example, if custodial workers walk off the job, then over time, floors get muddy, toilets get dirty, garbage cans overflow, and so on. And that mess can motivate employers to negotiate a contract.
However, if they hire scabs to come in and perform that labour, that motivating mess disappears.
And this is exactly what the Calgary Board of Education has done.
Last Thursday, a principal at one of the schools impacted by the strike sent out an email that indicated the school district has hired contract cleaners.
In a Q&A section of the email, the principal had included the following:
Q: How will cleaning be managed during the strike?
A: Contract cleaners will ensure schools meet minimum cleaning standards after hours. Administrators will have access to replenish basic supplies (soap, toilet paper) during the day.
Q: What cleaning tasks will be prioritized daily?
A: The contract cleaners will:
- Empty all waste bins, including compost bins
- Fully clean and restock washrooms
- Clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces (doors, stair railings, water fountains, etc.)
- Spot mop large spills and pick up large debris
- Restock paper towels and hand soap in classrooms
I’ve included redacted screenshots of the principal’s email below, which an anonymous source had sent to me.
This email follows a letter from Joanne Pitman, the chief superintendent of schools with the Calgary Board of Education, that went out the day before this unnamed principal’s email.
In her letter, Pitman stated:
To allow for cleaning after school hours, students and staff will be asked to leave the school no later than 45 minutes after the end of the school day.
If the custodial workers are on strike, who’s cleaning the schools?
Scab labour undermines the strength workers get from striking, one of the only ways they have to equalize the imbalance that exists in contract negotiations between workers and employers, especially employers controlled by government mandates.
Over 1,200 education support workers employed by the Calgary Catholic School Division, the Black Gold School Division, and the Foothills School Division also went on strike today.
7 replies on “Calgary Board of Education hired scabs to undermine strike”
I agree that neglecting negotiations to hire the scabs is a problem, and I whole heartedly support the labour action being undertaken. However, my spouse is a teacher, and neglecting the health of the teachers and students so that the “motivating mess” remains isn’t a solution I can get behind either. A better route would be a synchronized strike, but given the different mediation schedules that also isn’t currently a “legal” solution.
I completely agree that the health of teachers and students shouldn’t be neglected, which is why the employer should be at the table. Their strike vote was almost several weeks ago. They could’ve avoided this. Any threat to health or safety is entirely on them.
Scabs hiring scabs! And just like “private surgeries”, have to wonder if hiring scabs costs more than paying good wages to those on strike!?
[…] this week, I wrote an article about the Calgary Board of Education hiring scabs to delay negotiating with the 800 education support workers they employ, who have been working on […]
The teachers and students should join the strike, may be time for a general strike.
That would be something to see!
[…] in the day, they also announced that workers employed by the Calgary Board of Education and the Black Gold School Division approved their tentative […]