Saturday, October 26, 2024, PM EDITION
Workers' Forum
Alberta Public Sector Workers Militantly Stand as One
Resounding No! from CUPE Education Workers to Government Intimidation Tactics
In a massive rally at the Alberta legislature in Edmonton, education workers in the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3550 led a militant day of political protest to say No! to government dictate which blocked them from proceeding with their legal strike action.
Local 3550
represents education assistants, school administrative staff,
librarians and others. They were to begin their strike on October 24
after four years without a collective agreement. The Alberta government
intervened on October 22 as it had done previously with the Fort
McMurray
education workers and imposed a Disputes Inquiry Board. This forces the
workers to undergo yet another fruitless round of mediation, then wait
for the mediator's report, then vote again and issue a new strike
notice.
All of this is carried out under the hoax that a "neutral" third party can assist in resolving what the government euphemistically calls "the dispute" when in fact it is the refusal to negotiate and instead impose an anti-social offensive which has destroyed the system of public education.
The workers pointed out that the block to a settlement is the mandate dictated by the United Conservative Party (UCP) government that no agreement can be reached for the years 2020 – 2024 for a wage increase of more than 2.75 per cent in total, even though inflation in Canada rose by 17.68 per cent during those four years.
CUPE Local 3550 gave a resounding No! to this fraud which deprived them of their right to proceed with their strike, and called for a one-day political protest. They were joined by thousands of workers, with a preliminary count of about 8,000 at the legislature.
A statement from CUPE Alberta explained that their members made the decision after several town-hall meetings and long conversations among themselves about which way to go. The success when everyone participates in working out the course of action can be seen in the strength of members of CUPE 3550 standing as one, fully confident in their stand. President Mandy Lamoureux expressed this when speaking to the rally saying that "the workers had voted 97 per cent to go on strike and the 97 per cent are here today."
The union issued a statement in which Lamoureux further explained: "Members did not come to this lightly. They do not feel this government is hearing their pleas to help instead of hinder. They need a fair agreement for themselves and for the students they serve.
"The members say this is about the integrity and sustainability of Alberta's education system. It's also about being able to feed their own family after giving everything they've got to supporting the children of families in their community at school."
The education workers were joined by thousands of workers, including from many other CUPE locals, the United Nurses of Alberta who came with all the delegates attending their annual general meeting which was taking place in Edmonton, the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, who brought their entire annual convention, as well as many other unions, unorganized workers, parents, and other concerned citizen. It was a massive show of support for the education workers.
More than 2,000 CUPE 3550 members arrived in buses from across the city of Edmonton. UNA arrived by LRT, AUPE buses also arrived. As busload after busload of workers arrived, and as numbers grew, so too the cheers, the slogans, the animated discussion, and the profound sense of pride and of joy which prevails when workers take a stand in defence of the dignity of labour and their rights which in turn contribute to defending the rights of all.
The atmosphere
was electric and felt like currents of change
caught up in the strong wind that always blows around the Alberta
legislature. Speaker after speaker voiced the workers' demand for
respect, and everyone responded with chants. We are the workers who
make the society function, they
said. We have been trying to hold our system of education, our health
care system, all our social programs together for years of anti-social
offensive, as well as through COVID, and the government keeps asking
for more. We say, Enough is Enough! No More Disrespect!
In this vein, the workers upheld the dignity of labour. They demanded increased funding for public services and the recognition of their rights.
Speaking to the rally, Lamoureux, said, "You know our support staff did this not only for themselves, but they did it for our students. They want to be their best selves so they can help their students. They should not live in poverty wages. They should not have to hold a second or even a third job. They should not have to visit a food bank. We're worth more than 2.75 per cent. The government needs to get out of the bargaining table and let us negotiate a fair deal.
"Education workers are not afraid to stand up for what they want. I am so incredibly proud of Local 3550 for being here today. We had a strike vote of 97 per cent and those 97 per cent are here today. The fight has just begun. Thank you everyone. Solidarity."
CUPE Alberta president Rory Gill spoke about his meeting with Alberta Premier Danielle Smith in 2023. "She agreed to see me, and I talked about the crisis in public services, and particularly the catastrophe in public education, when it came to wages, how people couldn't support themselves, how people were having to leave the profession, not able to continue to support the best public education system in this country. And the premier looked at me, and then she kind of looked at the ceiling and she shrugged, 'well people make choices.' Well, we've made some choices, haven't we? We've made the choice to protect public services. We've made the choice to protect kids. We've made the choice to protect the vulnerable, and today, we have made the choice to protect our constitutional right to strike.
"All of you here, whether you're nurses, teachers, education workers, municipal workers, social services, whatever you do, private sector workers, helping us all out. We've all made the choice today that enough is enough.
"We've had it...We've had enough of undermining our precious public services. We're not going to take it anymore. We can't support ourselves, we can't support kids, we can't support the vulnerable, we can't support the people in Alberta. So we're here to say it's over. We're going to protect our rights to strike, free collective bargaining. We're going to protect public services. This is one of the happiest days of my life, seeing everybody here, all of us, all together, we're gonna win. Because when we fight, we win. Get ready for more. We are changing Alberta!"
Many union leaders spoke at the rally, which was MCed by the president of the Alberta Federation of Labour Gil McGowan They included Siobhan Vipond, vice-president of the Canadian Labour Congress; Mark Hancock, national president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees; Linda Silas, president of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions; Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees; Heather Smith, president of the United Nurses of Alberta; Mike Parker, president of the Health Sciences Association of Alberta; Quinn Benders, president of the Non-Academic Staff Association at the University of Alberta, and Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers' Association.
Speakers congratulated the education workers for their courageous stand; they spoke about their demand for respect, and expressed that this rally signals the beginning of a broad fight of the public sector workers together for their rights and the rights of all to the public services society needs. The rally ended with more chanting and singing.
Close to 250,000 public sector workers are in negotiations in Alberta in 2024. The spirit at the rally was that this is just the beginning.
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