Education assistants in Edmonton in strike position [Video]

CUPE Local 3550 President Mandy Lamoureux speaks with Alberta Primetime host Michael Higgins about negotiations between education support workers and the province being at a standstill.

This interview was edited for clarity and length.

Michael Higgins: Your local, which I understand represents roughly 3,200 educational support workers in Edmonton, voted and was set to strike before the appointment of that dispute inquiry board. What drove your members to being in that strike position?

Mandy Lamoureux: We did have an overwhelming amount of members voting, 92 per cent of them voted, and out of those 92 per cent, 97 per cent voted in favour of strike.

They haven’t seen a decent wage increase for the last 12 years, so the cost of living has gone up by 30 per cent and their wage has not met up with that. So the current offer on the table is 2.75 per cent, which is very far away from the 30 per cent.

MH:By the …