Calgary school support staff to negotiate 7.75% pay increase

Custodial and other support staff at the Calgary Board of Education have negotiated a 7.75% pay increase this school year. 800 workers, members CUPE 40 ratified the agreement on Saturday.

CUPE 40 president Clay Gordon says the deal is better than the provincial government's original 2.75% wage offer. Workers will receive a 5% salary increase before the beginning of the academic year, and another 2.75% increase after ratification.

The average salary for support workers in Alberta is just $34,300 per year.

“After eight years of no wage growth, it's still not enough,” Gordon said. “But it's something we can take, and we'll be back at the negotiating table when this deal ends in August. So we'll be asking for more to make up for lost time.”

Gordon said his members deserve credit for making “a lot of noise” about how unhappy they are with their low wages. “We had purple shirt days, rallies, demonstrations, letters and other ways to get the government to understand that we need to keep up with inflation.”

CUPE Alberta president Rory Gill said this is the third group of CUPE workers to negotiate a wage increase over the provincial offer. Gill says there are 28 other school districts negotiating with CUPE, and he expects others to follow the trends set by CUPE 40 in Calgary.

“The only way UCP can avoid school strikes is to admit that workers cannot go eight years without a pay rise. Inflation is high and they need to appreciate the job of taking care of students.”