Sturgeon Public Schools support workers: 94% vote to strike

Support workers at public schools north of Edmonton have voted to go on strike.

The 250 Sturgeon Public Schools education department employees in CUPE District 4625 voted 94 percent in favor of a strike in Friday’s vote, which had a 93 percent turnout, a resident said in a news release Tuesday.

The Alberta Labor Relations Board certified the results, allowing it to give the school division 72 hours notice of the strike, residents said.

Kelly Salisbury, the community’s president, said in a news release that the main issue for members is wages, adding that they have “suffered eight years of zeros,” pointing out that they have not received raises during that time.

“Students are our absolute top priority, but the inability to pay bills impacts members of the home, making work precarious,” Salisbury said.

CUPE Local 4625 includes instructional assistants, cafeteria workers, office clerks, library clerks, therapy assistants, library technicians, cafeteria technicians, bookkeepers, professional assistants, administrative assistants, and licensed practical nurses.

Sturgeon Public Schools, headquartered 35 kilometers north of Edmonton in Morinville, has 18 schools serving approximately 5,200 students in the communities of Bon Accord, Legal, Camilla, Namao, Gibbons and Redwater.

The results of the vote come a week after the Alberta government stepped in to appoint a dispute panel that will mediate an agreement between the Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) and CUPE Local 3550.

The EPSB has asked the Minister of Labour, Economy and Trade to establish an investigative commission, a neutral third party. Because it was established before the strike, local residents are not allowed to strike and employers cannot lock out employees until an investigation is completed.

Some EPSB support staff left work on Thursday in a political protest against provincial wage demands and what they called “interference in collective bargaining.”