CUPE members and supporters join a demonstration in the east-end of Ottawa on Nov. 4, 2022. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Spencer Colby

By The Canadian Press

Provincial Politics

Opposition NDP demands Alberta government act ahead of school support worker strike

Jan 10, 2025 | 3:52 PM

Alberta’s Opposition NDP is calling on the provincial government to act as thousands of education support workers prepare to walk off the job in Edmonton and some nearby communities.

More than 3,000 staff, from education assistants to cafeteria workers, employed by the Edmonton Public School Board and the Sturgeon Public School Division could hit picket lines on Monday, joining counterparts in Fort McMurray in demanding fair wages.

NDP deputy leader Rakhi Pancholi says it is “unconscionable” for the province’s United Conservative Party government to underfund school boards.

Her comments come after Finance Minister Nate Horner accused the Canadian Union of Public Employees of misleading its members and the public and said no one should expect to earn a full-time salary for 10 months of part-time work.

Pancholi says those comments are an insult to education workers, and the UCP created the impasse by underfunding school boards.

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CUPE Local 3550 president Mandy Lamoureux has said the average educational support worker in Alberta earns $34,500 per year.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 10, 2025.