Support staff at the School District of Mystery Lake (SDML) went on strike Aug. 30, picketing outside the district office as they try to speed up negotiations for a new collective agreement to replace the one that expired in 2017.
“To be crystal clear, the union does not want to take strike action,” said a letter sent out prior to the strike by United Steelworkers District 3 staff representative Matt Winterton on behalf of United Steelworkers Local 8223, which represents about 185 SDML employees, including custodians, maintenance workers, educational assistants, librarian clerks, information technology staff and other support staff. “The union simply wants to meet in a respectable timeframe and negotiate a respectable collective agreement. The members understand the potential impact of withdrawing their services and did not make this decision lightly … but at some point they absolutely need to stand up for themselves and try to rectify the unhealthy relationship that the employer has created over the last several years.”
SDML board chair Lindsay Anderson said in a letter posted on the school district’s Facebook page that some disruption of services was expected as a result of the strike, and asked that parents registering their children for school do so through the school district office rather than at schools.
“The district will aim to continue all the educational services that are possible,” the letter said. “The district will continue to try to reach agreement with the unions in order to bring and end to this strike as soon as possible.”
Churchill-Keewatinook Aski NDP candidate Niki Ashton wrote to Manitoba Education Minister Cliff Cullen on the day the strike began asking him to direct all school districts to have fair and equitable contracts for their employees.
“With students already facing challenges from COVID-19, the … strike would be devastating to their learning environments,” Ashton wrote. “I stand in support of USW Local 8223 members in bargaining for a fair contract in good faith, and I support the hard work they do to make sure our children have a strong education here in the north.”
Thompson MLA Danielle Adams expressed support for the union members on social media.
“I stand in solidarity with educational support staff,” she wrote in a Facebook post. “They are hard-working dedicated people who have been working without a contract for 4 years. This is not okay. They deserve a fair deal. The PCs must end their attacks on hard working Manitobans and allow fair and meaningful bargaining.”
Thompson Teachers’ Association president Cathy Pellizarro joined support staff members at a practice picket in front of the school district office in July and said they deserve a new agreement.
“Thompson teachers support USW 8223 at the school district and hope they get a fair contract very soon,” she said. “Four years without a contract is way too long.”
