Educational support staff serve strike notice [Video]

School support staff, including educational assistants, served a 72-hour strike notice on Thursday, its union has announced.

More than 3,000 support staff from the Edmonton Public School Board (EPSB) and Sturgeon Public School Division could walk off the job as early as Monday.

The strike process began last October when CUPE 3550 and Edmonton Public Schools negotiations over better wages stalled. The wage increase offered, 2.75 per cent in the first four years of an eight-year contract, is capped by the Alberta government.

The provincial government appointed a Disputes Inquiry Board (DIB) to help EPSB and CUPE reach an agreement.

Local president Mandy Lamoureux has called the DIB a delay tactic and said Thursday the strike action “is part of CUPE’s plans to escalate job action until the Smith government addresses low wages in the sector.”

“Our members want the government to step up and recognize that we need to be paid a livable wage. The cost of living has gone up by 30 …