Leth. education workers get 3 years of wage freezes

Last week, the Mediation Services department of Alberta Jobs, Economy, and Trade published their May 2024 Bargaining Update, which includes details on recently settled collective agreements.

One of the agreements was between Local 1825 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees and the Holy Spirit Roman Catholic School Division.

Local 1825 of CUPE represents about 225 workers employed in the separate school division, including education assistants, early learning assistants, receptionists, speech language assistants, library workers, administrative assistant, career practitioners, child and youth care workers, and accounting administrators.

Based out of Lethbridge, Holy Spirit Roman Catholic School Division is a publicly-funded, faith-based school division covering 16 schools in Lethbridge and the surrounding area.

Mediation Services didn’t provide a copy of the new collective agreement, so I won’t be able to comprehensively review all the changes between it and the previous government.

However, the department did provide information on wage increases:

1 Sep 2020	0.00%
1 Sep 2021	0.00%
1 Sep 2022	0.00%
1 Jun 2023	1.25%
1 Feb 2024	1.50%

That’s a combined 2.75% during the entire life of the new contract, or an average annual increase of 0.69%.

Their previous contract, which expired in August 2020, nearly 4 years ago, gave these workers 2 years of wage freezes and a 2% increase in the final year.

This means that since 2016, these workers have received a wage increase of less than 5%.

In September 2016, the last time these workers received a wage increase prior to their most recent contract, Alberta’s consumer price index sat at 135.3. By September 2023, 7 years later, it had increased to 166.0.

That’s an increase of 30.7 points, or 22.69%.

So, during the 7 years that wages for these workers increased by 4.75%, inflation grow by nearly 5 times that amount. That means that their real wages—wages adjusted for inflation—actually decreased by 17.94% during the same period.

Keep in mind that some workers covered by this contract were making less than $20 leading into contract negotiations.

Even though these workers have received a raise, it is nowhere near enough to allow them to keep up with the increase to the cost of living.

If they spent $1000 on goods and services in September 2016, those same goods and services would now cost them $1,179.40. Either that or that same $1000 would now allow them to buy only $820.60 worth of goods and services in today’s dollars.

And remember, that’s after accounting for all their raises in the last two contracts.

Oh. and that’s just considering inflation up to last September. Undoubtedly, there will be even more inflation to take onto that loss.

In fact, between September 2023 and April 2024, the most recent CPI data we have, inflation in Alberta has already increased by over 1.5%!

This new contract will expire in August 2024, even though it was settled only on 22 May 2024. That means that the bargaining team will have barely any time to rest from this most recent round of negotiations, which had to go to mediation, before having to begin bargaining on their next contract.

Hopefully the employer doesn’t drag negotiations on for 3.5 years the next time and will present the workers with a respectful offer for wages.