Educational assistants won’t replace Alberta teachers in possible strike: union

EDMONTON – The union for educational assistants in Alberta, fresh off its own strike earlier this year, says members won’t take on the work of teachers if they end up walking off the job next month.

Raj Uppal, Alberta president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, says its members have been advised since the first week of September to refuse teachers’ work and to get union officials to clarify areas where duties overlap.

The work can vary, but educational assistants are often tasked with assessing how well students are functioning, administering standardized tests and helping plan educational programs.

She said the union, which represents over 11,000 education support workers, is backing teachers and will do “everything in our legal power” to help them improve classroom conditions.

“We would never step over into the non-bargaining unit work, simply because we support … the fight for safer and better classrooms,” Uppal said Wednesday.

“Whether it is others doing our work or we (are) doing anyone else’s work, we’re very clear that we do our own bargaining unit work and we do not step outside.”

She said CUPE local presidents will be tasked with informing school boards that educational assistants won’t take on extra work.

Their statement comes as the provincial government and the Alberta Teachers’ Association remain far apart on a new collective agreement, as the clock ticks towards the Oct. 6 strike deadline. Both sides have accused the other of failing students.

Association president Jason Schilling has said its 51,000 teachers want salary raises, along with more supports to fix crowded classrooms. It has long said schools in Alberta are among the least funded in Canada — a sentiment shared by CUPE.

Major school boards in Edmonton and Calgary have said some schools are so full they’ve paused enrolment, and some parents have hired private tutors to get their children the help they need.

Speaking to reporters in Calgary, Premier Danielle Smith said her government is offering teachers an “abundantly fair” wage deal while hiring more educators to reduce overcrowding, in addition to building more schools.

“We have to focus on the things that we really hear (ATA) members talk about, which is class size and classroom complexity,” said Smith.

“You solve class size by hiring more teachers. You solve complexity by hiring more education assistants. You don’t solve that by just giving higher and higher salaries.”

Uppal said CUPE was promised “years ago” that more educational assistants would be hired, but it’s still waiting.

Thousands of education support workers represented by CUPE, from educational assistants to cafeteria workers, took to picket lines earlier this year over wages and working conditions.

That strike also saw some school boards call on substitute teachers to take on the role of education assistants.

Uppal said CUPE hasn’t yet been approached about members taking on teaching roles but anticipates it being the only way school boards would be able to keep students in class during a teachers’ strike.

There also are no hard feelings towards teachers over what they saw during CUPE’s strike, she added.

“At the end of the day, we know that both parties have the same issues and same concerns,” Uppal said. “The only way we can do that is to … stand up with each other.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 17, 2025.