Thousands of education support staff around Alberta are set to return to their posts in the coming days as a months-long strike winds down, union officials said Tuesday.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees said tentative contracts with the Parkland School Division and the Calgary Board of Education were reached pending ratification from members.
Over the weekend, union members in Edmonton and Fort McMurray reached deals with their employers in a strike that has lasted months over a wage dispute.
In an interview Tuesday, CUPE Alberta president Rory Gill said it has hurt members to be away from work and their students, so he’s happy to see them return to the classroom.
Out of the nine local chapters on strike, five have secured deals and are to hold ratification votes.
While thousands of education support workers in Alberta could start returning to work this week after reaching tentative contract settlements, workers in several other school districts, like the Sturgeon Public School Division, remain on strike.
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Roughly 1,000 workers from Calgary’s Catholic school board as well as the Foothills, Black Gold and Sturgeon public school divisions are still on strike, Gill said.
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“We’re really hopeful that we can end these disputes and these strikes in the next few days and figure out a way to get our folks back to work as quickly as possible,” he said.
Union members have been without contracts since 2020. During earlier negotiations, Gill had said they were offered a three per cent wage hike retroactive to 2020, which worked out to 1.75 per cent for 2023 and 1.75 per cent for 2024.
While he didn’t provide specifics, Gill said the tentative deals are far better than what was originally offered and include higher wage packages.
Workers can expect to receive back pay going back to 2020 on top of raises for the next four years, he said.
“These are good solid deals for the members,” Gill said.
In a joint statement, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides and Finance Minister Nate Horner said the agreements will provide labour stability for the next three years.
“We encourage the remaining districts and locals that are experiencing job action to continue to collaborate toward an equitable deal,” it said.
Striking education support workers with the Calgary Board of Education, could be back on the job later this week, if they vote yes on a tentative contract settlement, while Calgary Catholic workers remain on strike.
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The union said if members approve deals, Parkland staff could be back to work by Thursday.
Calgary public workers could return by Friday, but those employed by Calgary Catholic are still negotiating a deal.
Workers at public and Catholic school boards in Fort McMurray are to return to work Wednesday and Edmonton Public Schools staff could return Thursday.
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