Wednesday, August 11, 2021

Garden Valley School Division Support Staff Approve New Four-Year Contract

Winnipeg— Four groups of support staff employed by Garden Valley School Division have ratified a new collective agreement with wage increases matching those agreed to by the division’s teachers earlier this year.

The division’s school bus drivers, educational assistants, library technicians, and school administrative assistants are represented by Education, Service and Health Care Union, CLAC Local 306. The union has represented these employees since 2005. Their last collective agreement expired in 2018.

Four-year wage increases of 1.6%, 1.4%, 0.5%, and COLA (cost of living adjustment) were secured in the agreement. Increases to paid sick leave days and vacation pay were also included in the contract.

“I’m pleased that we were able to reach this agreement quickly,” says Geoff Dueck Thiessen, CLAC representative. “School division support staff have been through so much during the pandemic. The very least we wanted for them was to secure the same wage increases that the teachers had negotiated.

“Support staff sometimes feel underappreciated because they work behind the scenes, but they are a critically important part of our education system. These are the people who are driving and sanitizing buses, cleaning schools, and working up close with students and visitors. I just can’t say enough about how resilient our members have been, and I am so glad the school division agrees.”

Garden Valley School Division Support Staff Approve New Four-Year Contract

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