Workers at 3 more school districts move to strike

Earlier this month, I wrote an article about 2,500 education support workers being on the verge of striking after having voted overwhelmingly in favour of such.

These workers are employed by school divisions in Calgary and surrounding communities, as well as communities near Edmonton. They are represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

Only one school district saw workers voting below 90% in favour of striking.

School district	CUPE local	# of workers	Vote
Calgary Board of Education	Local 40	800	94.5%
Calgary Catholic School District	Local 520	350	94.0%
Black Gold School Division	Local 3484	570	95.0%
Foothills School Division	Local 5040	300	82.0%
Parkland School Division	Local 5543	400	91.0%

When a majority of workers vote in favour of striking, it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re going on strike. Usually, the negotiating team will take those results back to the bargaining table as leverage, trying to demonstrate to the employer that if they don’t substantially change their offer, the workers are willing to go on strike.

This is what happened last year to education support workers in the communities of Morinville and Legal, when their strike threat lead to their first raise in 8 years.

So far, 3 school districts haven’t budged significantly on their previous offers, which has prompted workers to announce they’re going on strike.

On Valentine’s Day, CUPE Alberta announced that the more than 400 workers represented by Local 5543 and employed by the Parkland School Division were planning to go on strike.

These workers include a variety of education support workers, include educational assistants, administrative support, librarians, licensed practical nurses, cafeteria workers, and family support workers.

This isn’t a typical strike, however, with workers walking off the job and picketing outside their workplace. Instead, they’re going to participate in a “work-to-rule” action.

During a work-to-rule campaign, workers reduce their labour to just essential activities, refusing any additional work they’re asked to perform, including volunteering.

It’s a way to go on strike without having to remove all labour from the workplace.

Their work-to-rule action was scheduled to begin this past Tuesday and is part of a broader, long-term plan by CUPE to escalate work actions, should school districts refuse to move substantially from their previous bargaining positions.

On top of this, the workers with Local 40 and Local 520 announced yesterday that they’ve given their 72-hour strike notice to their school boards: Calgary Board of Education and Calgary Catholic School District.

These 1,150 workers voted over 90% in favour of striking earlier this month, which you can see in the table near the beginning of this article.

Unlike the Parkland workers, however, this will be a full-on strike, with workers set to strike on Monday morning, unless the school districts change their minds.

These workers primarily have custodial and maintenance responsibilities at the schools in these school districts, so the loss of their labour could result in how their school physically operates.

Between the 3 school districts, more than 1,500 could be on strike, in one form or another, as of next week. They would be joining over 4,000 striking education workers in Edmonton and Fort McMurray, who have been on the line for weeks.

And it’s quite possible that the workers at the Black Gold and Foothills school divisions could be joining them soon.

Plus, a source informed me earlier this week that bargaining teams for education support workers with 3 school districts in Lethbridge and Taber are heading to mediation next month. If no substantial movement comes out of mediation, these 900 or so workers could also end up on strike, bringing the total number of striking workers to past the 7,000 mark.