Parents and advocacy groups have been shouting from the rooftops for years about the damage caused by underfunding and undervaluing support services in public education. Access to the resources needed to facilitate learning in Alberta’s K-12 public education system is nearly impossible for many children and families. 
 
Extensive burnout, low pay, and loss of hours have been exacerbating staff shortfalls in education support for years, with the consequences becoming overwhelming amidst a rising cost of living. “On any given day, hundreds of critical positions are left vacant in our schools,” said Mandy Lamoureux, president of CUPE 3550. 
 
CUPE represents 41 education support locals in Alberta, including educational assistants, library technicians, custodians, administrative and therapy assistants, interpreters, and several other job classifications. After going without a raise for over a decade, these support staff have been locked into a continued loss of real wages by the United Conservative Party (UCP) government’s mandated caps at the bargaining table.
 
The province requires all school divisions in bargaining to adhere to mandates set by the Provincial Bargaining and Compensation Office (PBCO) – an arm of the provincial government – with a PBCO representative physically sitting at most bargaining tables and calling the shots. Despite clear evidence to the contrary, UCP cabinet ministers consistently claim they are not involved in bargaining between school divisions and CUPE. This prompted an open letter from CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill to the Alberta government, denouncing actions and comments that undermine the spirit of the legal bargaining process and demanding it be honest about its role – either admitting it is actively working against CUPE members or allowing them to negotiate in good faith.
 
In addition to blatantly denying its role in setting wage rates, the UCP also denies its failure to keep up with student enrollment growth, allowing education funding to lag further behind. 
 
“The UCP government is moving public dollars into private schools at an alarming rate, and their intentional neglect of our public education system will have severe and long-lasting impacts on students, families, and ultimately our communities,” said Gill.
While UCP Premier Danielle Smith promised to create 3,000 additional education support positions in Alberta during the province’s 2023 election, none of these positions will materialize if school divisions can only offer poverty-level incomes to those managing complex student needs in exploding class sizes. Not only are wages failing to keep up with staggering inflation, but after more than a decade without raises, the ongoing wage suppression has made it extremely difficult to attract and retain qualified staff. “These are skilled jobs,” said CUPE 4625 President Kelly Salisbury. “We give everything we’ve got to our students and, at the end of the day, if we can’t meet the needs of our own families, we question how we can possibly keep going on like this.” 
 
The constitutionally protected right to strike is the last line of defence CUPE education workers have to stop the erosion of their wages and the breakdown of public education in Alberta. “This fight truly is about the sustainability of quality public education. The difference we make every single day cannot be overstated. It’s devastating to see students go without their needs met, and we feel torn between staying to be there for our students and being able to support ourselves financially,” said Michelle Bilodeau, a CUPE 3550 member.

Mark Hancock, Rory Gill and Mandy Lamoureux with thousands of CUPE members marching to the Legislature where they will be joined by thousands of other union members, parents, and public supporters in a political protest on October 24, 2024, which would have been CUPE 3550’s first day on strike before the province intervened with a DIB.
On September 17, 2024, CUPE 2559 and CUPE 2545, the two education locals in Fort McMurray, were set to strike when the province intervened by appointing a Disputes Inquiry Board (DIB), forcing the locals into a repeat round of mediation. On October 24, 2024, the province applied the same delay tactic to CUPE 3550, the union’s largest education local in Edmonton. CUPE members held a political protest at the Legislature that day, joined by thousands of union allies, parents, and public supporters in a massive and inspiring show of solidarity. CUPE 4625 in Sturgeon County, just outside Edmonton, saw the writing on the wall and chose to delay their strike notice to wait for the others to complete the DIB process. 
 
Almost all of CUPE’s remaining 36 education sector locals in Alberta have been coordinating as quickly as possible to align with the four locals on strike. Strong, supermajority strike mandates, like the ones CUPE Alberta members have given their bargaining committees, are not typical in this province, highlighting the importance of this fight.
 
“We are in a moment in history here,” said Lynn Fleet, president of CUPE 2545 in Fort McMurray. “In all the years I’ve been with this local, I couldn’t have imagined being out day after day in -30-degree weather, mounting this level of pressure, fighting so hard to get just a little bit of justice for our members, and the students and families who count on us every day. It’s been a wake up call for our community about the kinds of MLAs we elected here, who have so easily turned their backs on working people.”
What began as individual locals bargaining with school divisions has evolved to CUPE’s entire education sector in Alberta taking a stand against the provincial government’s wage mandates and erosion of public education services. The outpouring of solidarity for education support workers from across the province and the country has been unbelievable. CUPE locals far and wide, union allies, parents, disability advocates, local organizations, and small businesses have been showing that this fight goes beyond bargaining – it is about the integrity and value of our public education system and those who make it work. This is one of the biggest battles CUPE has taken on in Alberta in recent history.
 
Find out how to support Alberta’s education workers at SupportEducationWorkers.ca.