Buffalo Trail school trustees line their pockets - again

WAINWRIGHT, AB – At the same time as the Buffalo Trail School Division is
cutting staff and services, Trustees have voted for big increases for
their wages and expenses.

And after bearing the brunt of reduced hours due to cutbacks, school
workers are crying foul.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) says that last month,
school trustees raised their per diem by 6.7%, their meal allowance by
25%, and their mileage rate by 12.5%.

Margaret Templeton, President of CUPE Local 1606, says the move is
wrong. Templeton says that while trustees have been cutting back hours
for Teaching Assistants and Library staff, they shouldn’t be raising
their own allowances.

“There are fewer Teaching Assistants this year than there were last
year, and still every TA has seen their hours reduced,” said Templeton.
“Enrolment is stable but still some TAs are being asked to go home for
the last two periods of every day.”

“Library services have been scaled way back. I went from 1,330 hours
in 03/04 to 1,000 last year, 600 hours this year,” said Templeton.
“Teaching Assistants, Librarians, and other school support staff are
more important than meal allowances for trustees.”

“At a time when government funding is increasing, the trustees have
been cutting back on everything but themselves,” said Templeton. “They
should rescind their increases until they have restored the services
they cut back.”

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Backgrounder:

Increases approved on October 19th:

Increases approved on October 19th:

For more information, visit: www.alberta.cupe.ca