Less than a month after they first hit the picket lines, educational assistants at a Manitoba school division have returned to work.
Over 200 educational assistants employed with the Hanover School Division voted to ratify a new collective agreement on Nov. 22, ending a strike affecting numerous students across the division. The agreement was reached between the union representing the workers, the Christian Labour Association of Canada (CLAC), and the division on Monday.
In a press release on Thursday, the union stated that 83.1 per cent of educational assistants voted in favour of the agreement, which involves an immediate increase in worker compensation of 6.3 per cent. Education premium increases total 42 per cent over the lifetime of the agreement, along with an immediate 21 per cent increase.
The release further notes that workers won’t lose workdays due to unpredictable school closures and will receive significant improvements in sick day provisions.
“What Manitobans need to know is that our education system is under immense strain and is being held together by an army of front-line workers who often need to work more than one job. And it’s their passion that keeps this system running behind the scenes,” said the union’s regional director in Winnipeg, Geoff Dueck Thiessen, in the release. “The system needs help, in the form of dollars and cents, and this strike has certainly highlighted that fact.”
Speaking to Global News, Dueck Thiessen further clarified that the 6.3 per cent immediate increase in worker compensation includes hourly pay adjustments and a general wage increase. He also said that while there remains a gap between what workers are paid in the Hanover School Division and other divisions, that gap is drawing closer.
“What we ran into was really some funding challenges that are at play here… we’ve got some good work to do when we go back to the table in 2026. To get closer,” said Dueck Thiessen. “This strike has really revealed how important (educational assistants) are in the schools. The schools did not do well without them, and the community rallied like crazy, including parents.”
The school division, in its own release on Thursday, said that it looks forward to welcoming the educational assistants back to work.
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