The UCP Has Kneecapped Alberta Education Workers’ Strike Rig

[Oscar]

The UCP Has Kneecapped Alberta Education Workers’ Strike Rights

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By Adam D.K. King - November 11, 2024 - The Maple - * * * Internal LINKS * * *

EXCERPT: "On October 24, around 3,200 education workers from Edmonton defied government intervention and rallied at the Alberta legislature. Joined by union supporters from across the labour movement, workers engaged in a one-day wildcat strike to protest the United Conservative Party (UCP) government’s interference with their right to strike.

These workers are members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) local 3550, which represents education support staff, and CUPE 474, which represents custodial staff. Workers have been without a new collective agreement since August 2020.

In early October, education support workers entered a two-week “cooling off” period, after talks and mediation aimed at securing a new contract with the Edmonton School Division broke down.

As the date on which the union could call a legal strike approached, the government granted the employer’s request for a “disputes inquiry board” (DIB), effectively kneecapping the unions’ ability to strike for an additional 30 days. By sending the parties to a DIB, the union’s right to strike and the employer’s ability to impose a lockout are halted until the inquiry process is completed. . . . . "

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