Members of CUPE Local 5512 — the union that represents educational support workers in Prairie South School Division (PSSD) — could go on strike in November if a new agreement cannot be reached.
To put pressure on the school board, more than 50 members picketed in front of the board office on Ninth Avenue Northwest on Oct. 1 in an attempt to bring attention to ongoing contract negotiations.
Earlier this year members voted 95.7 per cent in favour of moving forward with job action, up to and including a full withdrawal of services. During another recent vote, members voted 89 per cent against ratifying a proposed agreement put forward by PSSD.
The union and the school division have agreed to keep working with the provincially appointed mediator to hammer out a new deal. The main issues for the union include wages and the employer’s proposed changes to the long service recognition benefit gratuity.
The school division has proposed wage increases of zero and zero during the first two years of a new contract, while it also wants to remove the gratuity. This would particularly affect out of scope employees with more than 10 years of experience, as they would usually receive 10 per cent of their annual salary up to a maximum of $6,000 as part of the retirement recognition benefit.
This benefit has been around since at least 1980, according to one union member. This money is generated by building up unused sick time. Most union members are making about $25,000 a year.
Melody Stark was in attendance since she was worried about her future and wants to be able to live securely. Stark, who has been a caretaker for six years, lives by the motto, “To work to live and not live to work,” which she noted is an old union trope.
“There are so many people holding two or three jobs today. It’s a tough economy,” she added.
It was important to be at the picket since these are workers who need support, explained Judy Henley, secretary-treasurer of CUPE Saskatchewan. There are takeaways on the table that the employer wants to remove, but CUPE has a policy of not making any concessions.
“Everybody works hard … ,” she said. “We believe our members deserve to move forward and not backward (with benefits).”
Employees deserve to have increases to their cost of living allowances, just as the provincial government gives itself collective raises, Henley added. Expenses are not decreasing in society, which makes it difficult to live.
There are more than 500 education support workers from PSSD who are members of the Local 5512 union.
Helen Baker has been an educational assistant in PSSD since 2006. She didn’t believe she and others should have to picket simply to receive better wages. She pointed out students, parents and teachers don’t want to see this happen, nor do they want to see a strike.
“We’re going to stand together and show the public we mean business,” she added.
The union and the school division have one more mediation session with the provincial mediator on Oct. 30. If nothing is resolved by that date, then on Nov. 14 the union would be in a position to strike.
The fact there is another mediation session indicates negotiations are not going well, Henley remarked.
“Everybody deserves to earn a living. The education workers have been working short, which isn’t acceptable. It affects children,” she added. “We want to ensure that the schools are safe and well-staffed.”
About a dozen union members later sat in on the PSSD board meeting that afternoon.
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