Educational support staff at Red Deer Catholic barred from wearing union shirts which highlight ‘shockingly low’ pay

The shirts say: “Ask me why I’m wearing purple,” with a stylized checklist that includes the options ‘One colour, one team’, ‘Fair pay for fair work’, and ‘Labour rights’, as well as a ‘Union Strong’ logo and the words CUPE Local 417.

But just one school division in Alberta, that being Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools, is telling them they can’t.

Rory Gill, president, CUPE Alberta, says the union has filed a grievance with the school division, but the confusion doesn’t end there.

One of the troubling parts of this, explains Gill, is that CUPE’s fight isn’t actually with the school division, which is indeed with whom they are currently negotiating a new Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). Their beef, however, is with the province which provides the money to school divisions for the purpose of said bargaining — a level of negotiations which occurs separately from the traditional bargaining between full-time teachers and government.

It’s been several years without a raise; for some five, and others eight. Gill says they’re asking for an $8 raise divided over the next four years, and that falls at the feet of the provincial government. He says that raise would cost the province about $28 million per year.

“We’ve identified a crisis within education, which quite frankly is becoming a catastrophe based on average pay that is shockingly low,” says Gill, who doesn’t buy the notion that the province is facing a fiscal crisis, and points to the recently extended suspension of the provincial gasoline tax as evidence.

“If someone can string together 40 hours weekly being paid minimum wage, they’re going to make substantially more than that $27,500. Education has borne the brunt of austerity under various governments over the last 10 years, and we believe a serious change needs to happen.”

Gill says if they are successful with their demands, then at the end of the four years, people in these positions would actually be making a living wage.

“There’s a limit to human endurance. People who work in education are selfless, and I’m always struck by their dedication to making sure kids are taken care of and properly educated,” he continues. “If people can’t make a living, they’re going to have to leave the sector.”

Gill says these workers are struggling, and that could necessitate trips to the food bank, or working multiple other jobs.

As for the school division issue, it was June 12 when Red Deer Catholic officials sent a communiqué — obtained by rdnewsNOW — to CUPE workers stating that items with ‘union notices’ on them must be approved by senior administration. Once approved, the email goes on, the item can be placed on a bulletin board within the school. Recipients are then told that approval has not been requested nor granted for union messaging to be distributed or displayed on t-shirts, stickers, buttons or placards within the school.

Gill can’t outright confirm a formal request has been made to approve the shirts since June 12, but notes discussions were had before the grievance was filed.

He also noted that teachers in Red Deer Catholic may in fact wear generic purple shirts.

A group of educational support staff claim the aforementioned email came straight from the superintendent.

rdnewsNOW tried verifying this with the school division, and submitted several other questions. We received this statement:

“We appreciate your interest in Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools, however, we regret to inform you that we are unable to provide any comments or statements regarding the specific issue due to its involvement in a grievance process. At Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools, we value transparency and open communication, but we must adhere to the legal and procedural requirements surrounding such matters. Our commitment to the fairness and integrity of the grievance process prohibits us from discussing any details or providing commentary at this time.”

The aforementioned group of educational support staff submitted an anonymous statement to rdnewsNOW, saying they aren’t willing to speak on record due to fear of reprisal.

“We are disappointed that our school division has indicated that we have not been approved to wear CUPE sponsored t-shirts in the workplace. This campaign message is directed to the Alberta Government, not Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools,” the group says.

“The government suggested wage mandate of 2.75 per cent equals out to 63 cents an hour over four years for the top paid educational assistants within RDCRS. Ask us why we do this job? Because we make a difference in the lives of the students we work with. Allow us to wear these shirts to help us receive a higher wage so we can keep doing the jobs we love.”

According to Article 19.3 of the CBA in question:

“A bulletin board, or a portion of an existing bulletin board, will be made available to the Union in each school for the posting of notices and other Union related items of interest to members, provided that such notices are approved by the Employer prior to posting.”

Gill says the campaign will wear on through the summer and into next school year if necessary.

“While we cannot comment specifically on bargaining or negotiations, I am proud of Budget 2023 and the increased investment in education. We value educational assistants and the many ways they support teachers and students,” says Demetrios Nicolaides, Minister of Education, in a statement to rdnewsNOW.

“Budget 2023 includes additional funding of $126 million over three years for school authorities to spend on educational assistants and other staff. This is in addition to more than $820 million over the next three years that will specifically support enrolment growth in schools. We are providing a historic level of funding to the education system, an increase of nearly $2 billion over the next three years, and we will continue to work with school authorities to encourage them to spend as much of this money as possible in the classrooms where it will benefit students the most.”

CUPE represents about 8,000 educational support workers provincially.

by Josh Hall (Twitter: @Vancan19)

Educational support staff at Red Deer Catholic barred from wearing union shirts which highlight ‘shockingly low’ pay

What's Trending