Edmonton Public Schools education support staff returning to work Thursday after voting 93% in favour of deal
Posted March 19, 2025 9:01 am.
Last Updated March 19, 2025 9:08 pm.
The lengthy strike involving education support workers at Edmonton Public Schools is officially coming to an end.
Staff are set to return to their schools Thursday after voting 93 per cent in favour of the agreement reached between the school division and union.
The specific details of the settlements have not been made public, but the union says they include pay increases and are valid through August 2028.
Education support workers at the Parkland School Division also ratified their settlement, with 97 per cent of members voting in favour. They too will return to school Thursday.
Earlier Wednesday, two Edmonton-area school divisions struck a tentative deal with striking education support workers.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) says it reached an agreement with the Black Gold School Division, which represents schools in Beaumont, Leduc, Calmar, Thorsby, New Sarepta and Warburg. If unionized workers ratify the deal in a vote Wednesday night, they would return to the classroom Thursday – putting an end to their strike that began Feb. 24. That deal was ratified as of 9 p.m. on Wednesday, with an 87 per cent vote in favour.
CUPE says an agreement was also reached with the Sturgeon School Division, which covers schools north of Edmonton, such as in St. Albert, Morinville or Gibbons. The roughly 200 education support workers there began a ratification vote Wednesday, with a result expected Thursday by mid-day. If the deal is ratified, they would return to work March 31 — after spring break.
The Calgary Board of Education also accepted it’s agreement as of 9 p.m. on Wednesday, voting 92 per cent in favour.
CUPE also says a tentative agreement was reached Wednesday with the last Alberta school division still on the picket line: Foothills School Division in southern Alberta.
