Calgary education support workers set to take strike votes, potentially join thousands of Alberta colleagues​on February 5, 2025 at 11:41 pm

Nearly 1,500 Calgary-area school support workers may soon join thousands of their Alberta colleagues on picket lines, as tensions escalate between the province and school staff over low wages and funding shortfalls.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees says five groups of education support workers representing approximately 2,350 custodians, educational assistants, librarians and other support staff in Alberta will hold strike votes between Feb. 9 and 11.

It includes 800 workers from the Calgary Board of Education, 350 from the Calgary Catholic School District and 300 Foothills School Division staffers, who are set to vote on Monday and Tuesday.

The Calgary staffers could walk off the job as early as Feb. 17, according to CUPE Alberta.

Nearly 1,000 support workers from two Edmonton-area school divisions are also set to hold votes.

The votes come as more than 4,000 education workers in Edmonton and Fort McMurray remain on strike over a wage dispute with their employers. Union members and supporters are picketing for better education funding and more classroom support.

CUPE Alberta President Rory Gill says the strike votes are part of a broader push to secure wage increases for education workers, who he says have been underpaid for years.

“The average educational support worker in Alberta earns just $34,500,” Gill said in a news release. “Some support staff have gone 10 years without a cost-of-living wage increase.”

Gill added that Alberta has the lowest per-student funding in Canada, which contributes to high job vacancy rates as schools cannot hire at current wages.

“The impact of the UCP policy of starvation wages on the classroom is staggering,” said Gill. “People are quitting, no one will take the jobs at these wages, and students and education are suffering.”

While a vote to strike does not mean workers automatically walk off the job, CUPE warns that job action is possible if the Alberta government does not step in to address wage concerns.

“It is a hard decision to vote to strike,” Gill said. “But doing nothing will make a bad situation for students even worse in the long run. We need to act now to protect education in Alberta.”

Gill acknowledged the potential effect on parents and students, but said workers feel they have no choice but to take action.

“We are trying to give parents as much notice as possible,” he said. “We know parents are in a tough spot, but we feel we have waited as long as we can and we have to act for the long-term benefit of the students we love so much.”