Earlier this week, the Grande Prairie Public School Division published an update regarding bargaining on a new collective agreement with the education support workers they employ.
GPPSD oversees the operation of 18 schools, all of which are located in Grande Prairie.
As of April 2022, when the last collective agreement was settled, the school division, employed about 325 education support workers, which include caretakers, lifeguards, administrative assistants, librarians, cooks, tradespeople, maintenance workers, groundskeepers, educational assistants, and Indigenous liaisons.
The previous collective agreement ran for 3 years, expiring in August 2024.
According to the bargaining update, the new agreement, which the school division called “a significant milestone” that they’re “thrilled” with, was ratified last month by both parties.
Details on the new agreement are sparse, but the school division reports that these workers are set to receive a 12% wage increase during the new 4-year contract.
While that may seem significant, there’s some context that’s missing.
First, let’s look at the increases for the new agreement:
| 2024 | 3.0% |
| 2025 | 3.0% |
| 2026 | 3.0% |
| 2027 | 3.0% |
That’s better than what they got in their last contract, which was 1.25% in 2023 and 1.5% in the last 6 months of the contract. Actually, let’s look at the wage increases for the last two contracts.
| September 2017 | 0.00% |
| September 2018 | 0.00% |
| September 2019 | 0.00% |
| September 2020 | 0.00% |
| September 2021 | 0.00% |
| September 2022 | 0.00% |
| September 2023 | 1.25% |
| February 2024 | 1.50% |
So, just to be clear, these workers did get 2.75% in their last contract, but that followed 6 years of wage freezes!
Let’s compare that to inflation.
In September 2016—their last wage increase prior to 2023—the consumer price index in Alberta sat at 135.3. By September 2024, 8 years later, it had jumped to 169.2. That’s an increase of 33.9 points, or 25.06%.
Since these workers got a 2.75% wage increase during the same period that inflation was 25.06%, it means they actually saw their real wages—wages adjusted for inflation—cut by 22.31%.
That’s almost twice as much as the increase they’re getting in their new contract. Even with a 12% increase, these workers will still be behind 10.31%!
Remember, that 12% is spread out over 4 years, which also means that there’s another 4 years of inflation to drag down real wages again.
I mean, inflation since February 2024 has already reach 1.74%, completely wiping out the final increase they received in their last contract.
This isn’t a milestone contract. It’s a crap contract.
These workers didn’t need 12%. They needed 30%: 20% for lost wages and 10% to deal with inflation over the next 4 years.
But I’m not surprised this is all they got, since the UCP is dictation how much employers can negotiate, which, I guess, isn’t really negotiating.
The bargaining update published by the school division did not include a copy of the new collective agreement, so I was unable to compare any changes from the last agreement, beyond the changes to wages.
