Alberta government, union spar on Edmonton nurses’ involvement in education assistants’ strike

The Alberta government is again accusing national union leaders of interfering in negotiations between the Edmonton Public School Board and striking support workers.

In a joint statement issued Tuesday, Alberta Finance Minister Nate Horner and Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides say in Edmonton, “after nurses were contracted to administer insulin and other medications to medically fragile children, CUPE pressured the nursing agency to withdraw service, forcing those students to stay home.”

The province has repeatedly accused CUPE National of using “fear and intimidation” to disrupt negotiations and prevent an agreement from being signed.

But the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) says the latest round of finger pointing is “full of falsehoods and baseless attacks.”

CUPE Alberta president Rory Gill says the group Nurses Next Door chose to withdraw from offering services “after claiming they didn’t realize they would be replacing striking workers. Not due to pressure from CUPE.”

In a social media post on Feb. 1, Nurses Next Door explained a school reached out to them to provide insulin injections and medications for some children. “This is the only service we have provided and were not under the impression this would have any effect on your ongoing negotiations,” the nurses wrote on Facebook.

That decision received backlash from the Edmonton and District Labour Council (EDLC), which called the nurses’ group “rats” and scabs.” “Email the scabs at Nurse Next Door to let them know that Edmontonians do not tolerate companies undermining workers fighting for good jobs,” the EDLC wrote at the time.

Nurses Next Door acknowledged it received “multiple emails and reviews.”

“Our priorities will always be what is best for our patients, we were under the impression these injections were required in order for this individual to be healthy and safe while in the school,” the group wrote on Facebook. “We have since suspended these services and will not work with any other schools or school boards until your negotiations have been settled.

“We sincerely apologize to our hard working Educational Assistants and to Edmonton and District Labour Council for any disrespect or harm we have caused your organization.”

Striking support staff include licenced practical nurses, education assistants, librarians, interpreters, cafeteria workers and administration staff.

In Tuesday’s news release, Horner and Nicolaides provided other examples which they feel are indicative of CUPE disrupting negotiations.

At the Sturgeon Public School Division, where workers have also been on strike since Jan. 13, the ministers say “the Alberta Labour Relations Board had to issue an injunction to prevent union activists from blocking school buses.”

That’s another “falsehood,” according to Gill, who says “there is no injunction from the Alberta Labour Board preventing picketing. Rather, CUPE and the school district entered into an agreement that picketing would not delay school buses.”

Medicine Hat union placed under administration

And in Medicine Hat, the Alberta ministers say an agreement was reached between the school division and the local CUPE union there, but “the national leadership of CUPE effectively deregistered the local to prevent a ratification vote.”

“This pattern of behaviour is disturbing and shows that education support workers who do not yet have a deal will not be permitted to vote on one, under fear of deregistration by union leaders in Ontario,” Horner and Nicolaides wrote in the statement.

Gill confirms CUPE Local 829 in Medicine Hat was placed under administration by CUPE on the morning of Feb. 5 – a process whereby the administrator has immediate authority over the local’s affairs, and all executive members and committees are disbanded.

Gill says it’s only after being placed under administration – within the following hour – that the former bargaining committee signed a proposed memorandum of agreement with the Medicine Hat Public School Division.

“Local 829 in Medicine Hat was put under administration for reasons unrelated to bargaining,” Gill said. “The former executive chose to meet with the school district after being informed they were put into administration. Therefore the deal they signed has no force or effect. However, the Administrator will pursue bargaining with that school district until further notice.”

CUPE Alberta says the government’s accusations are part of a smear campaign “to draw attention away from five strike votes happening right now” – including two in Calgary.

Last week, Minister Horner claimed the latest offer from the EPSB was not even presented to striking workers by their union. But CUPE argued the EPSB’s offer was never actually tabled.

“At the end of the day the antics and disturbing action taken by union leaders in Ontario is causing extremely detrimental effects to learning outcomes for Alberta students,” Horner and Nicolaides said Tuesday.

“Alberta’s government and school boards have shown up to the table to find a path forward, but CUPE National leaders clearly have ulterior motives that are not in the best interests of their members or Alberta students.”

Earlier Tuesday, CUPE released data from a survey that suggested 53 per cent of UCP supporters sided with striking education workers, while 28 per cent of them sided with the province.

The Environics Research online survey polled 1,002 Albertans, of which 421 indicated they were current UCP supporters. The survey was conducted Jan. 9-22.