STURGEON COUNTY, Alberta--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sturgeon Public School Division education support workers in CUPE Local 4625 held a strike vote on Friday, October 25th. The membership of roughly 250 includes educational assistants, cafeteria clerks, office clerks, library clerks, therapy assistants, library technicians, cafeteria technicians, accounts clerks, vocational assistants, divisional administrative assistants, and licenced practical nurses. The result was a decisive strike vote with 93% of the membership turning out to vote and 94% in favour of taking strike action. After confirmation of the final results by the Alberta Labour Board, the Local is now in a position to give 72-hour notice to strike.
President of CUPE Local 4625 Kelly Salisbury said she heard consistent themes about understaffing and severe difficulty making ends meet on low wages from members leading into the vote and anticipated this strong result. “We’ve tolerated 8 years of zeroes, doing our best to support the kids we care deeply about. We just can’t make it work anymore. Students are our absolute main priority, but an inability to pay the bills is affecting members at home, making the job unsustainable,” said Salisbury.
Along with CUPE Local 4625, CUPE Local 474 members also recently held a strike vote with 97% of members voting yes to strike. The two Locals join CUPE Locals 3550, 2559, and 2545 with strike mandates, however these three other Locals were forced into a Dispute Inquiry Board process by the provincial government just before they took strike action.
“We are very determined to achieve a fair collective bargaining agreement,” said Salisbury. “We know that if we don’t stand up for fair pay for these important services, the ones who will suffer most will be our students and their families.”
