MONTREAL — School workers in Alberta, members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, made major wage gains in a series of strikes that began in Fort McMurray last November. There were nine groups of workers and 6,600 workers on strike at the height of the strike, the biggest in their history.
The workers in the Edmonton Public Schools will see hourly pay increases from CA$4.03 an hour to CA$5.92 in a contract that runs through 2028. That is 16% to 20.87%. The gains are similar elsewhere. Their contract had expired in 2020 and they went on strike Jan. 13.
“I think we were very determined,” Rachael Schmidt, an education assistant and a communicator on the picket line at the Ross Sheppard High School in Edmonton, told the Militant. “There was pushback by families and teachers who realized how important we really are. There was lots of union support.
“I think it brought everybody together,” she said. “At the ratification vote you could just feel the energy in the room. There were 3,000 of us and we voted 94% in favor.”
Danielle Danis, president of the CUPE local for workers in the Fort McMurray Catholic School Division, said, “This is something everyone will learn from. We will move forward and support each other and all education workers across the province. We think this is just the start.”