While browsing through the collective bargaining agreement database on the Government of Alberta website, I noticed a new contract for education support workers.
These workers are employed by the Foothills School Division as library workers, educational assistants, office workers, technology facilitators, youth development coaches, and career and technology studies instructors.
The 280 or so workers are represented by Local 5040 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and their previous contract had expired at over 4 years ago, in August 2020.
This new 4-year contract was settled in August and is retroactive to September 2020. I’m not sure how quickly you can do math, but yes, that means that this contract was already expired by the time the workers got it.
I mean, technically, they had 1 day before it expired.
This is only the second contract they’ve received since unionizing in 2021. Their first contract was a 1-year contract, and, like I said, expired in August 2020.
And what did they get in this new contract?
Well, to start, they got a pay increase. Unfortunately, it doesn’t come until the final year of the contract.
| 1 September 2020 | 0.00% |
| 1 September 2021 | 0.00% |
| 1 September 2022 | 0.00% |
| 1 September 2023 | 1.25% |
| 1 February 2024 | 1.50% |
And that’s on top of a wage freeze in their previous contract.
So, that makes 4 years of wage freezes between the two contracts, followed by 1.25% in the final year of the contract and another 1.5% for the final 7 months.
That’s a combined increase of just 2.75% over 5 years, or an average annual increase of 0.55%.
This contract also went to mediation in April, but that didn’t seem to make a difference, as it didn’t result in a resolution, and the two parties had to go back to the bargaining table.
Not only does it suck that these workers had wages frozen for 4 years, but also the employer split that tiny wage increase in two, which means the workers lost out on that extra 1.5% for 5 months.
I don’t think I need to tell you that 4 years of wage freeze is less than inflation, but I’m going to anyhow.
Between September 2018 and September 2023, the consumer price index in Alberta increased from 141.1 to 166.0. That’s a jump of 24.9 points, or 17.65%.
When we combine the 2.75% wage increase over this 5-year period to the 17.65% inflation, these workers were left with a reduction in real wages—wages adjusted for inflation—of 14.9%.
This means that for every $1000 these workers made in September 2018 is now worth $851 today, or rather in September 2023. It’s worth even less now.
In other words, for every $1000 they spent on goods and services in September 2018, they were able to afford only $851 worth of those same goods and services in September 2023. Either that or they had to pay $1149 to buy all of the same goods and services. And that’s after the 2.75% wage increase.
Remember, that’s not even counting inflation over between September 2023 and September 2024.
Also, keep in mind that some of these workers were still making less than $20 an hour by the end of the previous contract. For reference, the average hourly wage in the healthcare and social assistance sector last year was $38.27. All of these workers have wages under this amount.
This response from the employer shouldn’t be that surprising. They gave maintenance workers wage freezes in 8 out of 11 years and bus drivers got 4 years of wage freezes and a 2.75% wage increase in the final year.
That 2.75% increase is being mandated by the province, so honestly a lot of the responsibility for these crappy wages falls on the shoulders of the UCP government.
Let’s look at a few other changes between the two contracts.
The probationary period for new workers has changed from 6 months to 3 months. Also new to the probationary section is that workers will need to serve only 1 probationary period. Under the previous contract, the probationary could be extended to a full year; that has been reduced to 6 months.
Any worker being hired into a posted position in a different job classification but still under the same collective agreement used to have to be in a trial period, during which time the worker or the employer could switch previous position. Previously, the trial period last ed 6 month, but it’s been cut in half in the new contract.
National Day for Truth and Reconciliation has been added to the list of general holidays, for which workers are entitled to holiday pay.
New to their contract is a $10 monthly cell phone premium for workers who must use their personal cell phone for work purposes. It will only paid out for 10 months, during the school year.
The union will also get $12,000 from the school district to be used for professional development for members under this collective agreement.
Finally, the employer has agreed to provide person protective equipment for workers who need it to perform their job safely and at reduced risk. PPEs must be approved by the director of inclusive learning.
Because the new agreement has already expired, the workers will need to begin negotiations on the next agreement right away, so they will get very little time to recover from this gruelling, multi-year bargaining session.
