Educational assistants in southeastern Manitoba strike after conciliation efforts hit impasse, union says
Hanover School Division says workers' union wants 'unprecedented' wage increases
Hundreds of educational assistants in southeastern Manitoba's Hanover School Division hit the picket line on Wednesday, leaving one Manitoba mom wondering when she'll be able to send her child back to school.
About 300 education assistants picketed near the school division's head office in Steinbach after beginning strike action Wednesday. Their union says 11th-hour bargaining sessions held Monday and Tuesday failed to reach an agreement.
Shannon Broesky's daughter, Delainey, relies on an educational assistant to help with things like mobility and eating.
"She is in a wheelchair, she requires diapering, so if you need to send her to school without an EA, it would be completely impractical and unsafe for her," Broesky told CBC News.
Delainey's school, Steinbach's Stonybrook Middle School, said the care she requires would not be available during the strike, according to Broesky.
"I'm going to keep her at home, because it really makes no sense to send her when the care isn't there," she said.
But Broesky isn't sure how long she can keep that up.
"She deserves and likes to socialize as well," she said. "I'm hoping it doesn't go too long, but if it does … I may have to just send her."
In a Wednesday statement, the Hanover School Division said bargaining began last March and a conciliator met with the two parties starting Oct. 24.
A new offer was made on Tuesday that included a 13 per cent total wage increase over four years, according to the school division, but the workers' union wants "unprecedented" and unaffordable wage increases which add up to more than 20 per cent.
Such an offer would force the division "to consider reducing educational services or staffing levels," as the current offer would already cause a budget shortfall, the statement said.
LISTEN | Educational assistants strike for higher wages:
Geoff Dueck Thiessen, regional director of Christian Labour Association of Canada, the union representing the workers, says bargaining talks on a collective agreement, which expired in August 2022, have hit an impasse due to wages.
"We've come to a place in bargaining, even with the assistance of a conciliator, [where] we could not reach an agreement," Thiessen told CBC News.
'Complex work'
Although they recognize the budgetary constraints the school division faces, Thiessen says EAs need a competitive wage.
"They worked hard during the pandemic, filled lots of gaps. They have a very difficult job, the public doesn't know how difficult an EA's job is in terms of high student needs."
Thiessen says he's not sure when the strike action will end, but educational assistants at the school division are "done waiting around.
"I think everyone's pretty motivated to get back to work. We just have to get to a deal that people can vote yes to, and it's too new to tell when that will be," he said.
Carla Burkert, who has worked as an educational assistant in the school division for 34 years, was one of the pickets outside the school division's head office on Wednesday.
Burkert says she needs a living wage since her job is complex and inflation has hit hard.
"It is so difficult now. We are crossing guards, we are doing lunch duties, recess duties. We are teaching kids [American Sign Language], braille. They have high needs," she told CBC News.
"We're doing complex work, we're doing hard work, and our wages need to show that."
While the strike is inconvenient for her personally, Broesky says she thinks what the EAs are asking for is fair since they have a tough job.
"I feel like parents are aware of what it takes to care for their children."
With files from Zubina Ahmed