Education workers ratify new agreement

[Nov 30, 2006 04:56 PM]

Battlefords: School support workers in K-12 education in the Living Sky School Division have ratified a new collective agreement that brings them a few steps closer to achieving their goal of a common pay system for all education workers in the province. 

Educational assistants, caretakers, secretaries, bus drivers and other school support workers represented by CUPE Local 4747 voted 92 per cent in favour of ratifying their tentative agreement at union membership meetings this month. 

The agreement, which amalgamates contracts from three former school divisions - Battlefords, Biggar, Landswest - standardizes wages and benefits for the more than 400 support staff working in 17 communities across the division.* 

Prior to amalgamation, entry level caretakers in the Battlefords were earning $2.66 less an hour than their counterparts in Biggar, while senior secretaries in Biggar were earning $1.30 less an hour than their counterparts in the Battlefords. 

CUPE staff representative Rhonda Heisler says the new three-year agreement contains a wage parity fund of 9% to unify the pay system. It also provides general wage increases of 1.5% in 2007, 2.5% in 2008 and 2.5% in 2009. 

The new agreement also extends core benefit coverage to every school support worker in the division - a significant improvement for some members who had little or no coverage previously.
CUPE, which represents about 70 per cent of the 8,800 education workers in the province, is pressing the government for provincial bargaining rights. "We want to negotiate one collective agreement for all school support workers in the province - just like teachers," says Rona Tyson, President of CUPE Local 4747, adding the current system of local bargaining has led to many disparities in wages and benefits.

 

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For more information contact: Rhonda Heisler at 382-8262.

 

* The division includes the communities of Leoville, Spiritwood, Medstead, Meota, North Battleford, Cut Knife, Maymont, Cando, Wilkie, Unity, Macklin, Denzil, Luseland, Kerrobert and Major.

 

For more information on the Education Workers' hunt for fair, coordinated barganing, read briefs on Provincial Bargaining and the Education Workers Steering Committee Bargaining Achievements.

 

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