Who we are

All Edmonton Public Schools Support Staff work in a unionized environment; the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Local 3550. The mandate of our union is to uphold and defend our Collective Agreement, represent and support our members and to promote economic and social justice for members and for all workers. In carrying out our work, we strive to promote our core values which include the principles of solidarity, equality, democracy, integrity, and respect.

We are committed to mobilizing our energy and skills to work together to promote these values and to attain these goals in our union, our communities, and globally.

Nationally, CUPE is committed to creating a union which is inclusive, welcoming, and free from harassment, discrimination and all types of bullying and intimidation. We strive to ensure we provide a safe environment for members, staff and elected officers to carry out our work. CUPE’s expectation is that mutual respect, understanding and co-operation will be the basis of all our interaction.

Education workers are frontline workers

The Alberta Government refuses to recognize all Education Support Staff workers as frontline workers.

This means that Educational support workers who don’t work the 300 hours within the dates stipulated in the criteria, or those workers that work in contact with students and the public whom the government doesn’t recognize, won’t be receiving the Critical Worker Benefit- a $1200 lump sum payment that the government is giving to frontline workers.

We are calling on the government to keep its word, and recognize all Education workers as critical, frontline workers by ensuring we are eligible for the Critical Worker Benefit.