Buffalo Trail Public Schools (BTPS) remains committed to sharing the most up to date and transparent information as possible with our families, staff, and stakeholders while also remaining committed to negotiating in good faith with CUPE Local 1606.
We know that members of our community, including staff and parents, have questions about the bargaining process. This page is meant to provide our school community with the facts about collective bargaining.
BTPS values the contributions of our staff and recognizes their importance in achieving our mission of providing safe and caring schools that maximize student learning. Staff are essential to our school communities, and we appreciate their dedication to supporting student success.
May 5, 2025: BTPS Special Board Meeting
April 30, 2025: CUPE Ratification Vote
April 15, 2025: Tentative agreement has been reached. Agreement is subject to ratification by BTPS Board of Trustees and the membership of CUPE Local 1606.
April 14 & 15, 2025: BTPS and CUPE resumed mediation.
March 25 & 26, 2025: BTPS and CUPE resumed mediation.
March 14, 2025: BTPS and CUPE resumed mediation.
March 5, 2025: BTPS received notification that CUPE official strike vote results were in favour of potential labour action.
March 2-3, 2025: CUPE Local 1606 strike vote.
February 20, 2025: Notification from the Labour Board that CUPE had applied for a strike vote. The strike vote is to take place on March 2 and 3, 2025.
February 4, 2025: Two-week cooling off period begins
February 3, 2025: The Mediator issued a letter formally ‘writing out’.
January 28, 2025: CUPE, as the Mediator wrote, declared that there was an impasse. CUPE asked the mediator to ‘write out,’ which effectively ended the formal mediation process under the Labour Relations Code.
January 27 & 28, 2025: BTPS and CUPE meet with the Mediator.
December 6, 2024: The Mediator is appointed.
November 8, 2024: CUPE filed for mediation.
October 21, 2024: This was the first bargaining date after proposals were exchanged.
October 17, 2024: Bargaining between BTPS and CUPE commenced. Both sides met and exchanged their ingoing proposals.
Division Communication
We will continue to share updates when new information is available.
Buffalo Trail Public Schools is pleased to share positive news regarding the recent negotiations between Buffalo Trail Public Schools (BTPS) and CUPE Local 1606. Both parties have ratified the tentative agreement reached between the Division and CUPE.
CUPE Local 1606 members voted in favour of the agreement on April 30, 2025. At the Special Meeting held on Monday, May 5, 2025, the Board of Trustees unanimously passed the following recommendation:
That the Board of Trustees of Buffalo Trail Public Schools ratify the CUPE Local 1606 collective agreement for September 1, 2024, to August 31, 2028.
Board Chair Kara Jackson shared, “The agreement reached reflects our shared commitment to fostering a positive and collaborative working environment that benefits our students, staff, and the entire BTPS community.”
This agreement is a positive step forward and acknowledges the important role our CUPE staff play in our schools. We are grateful for their continued dedication to creating safe, supportive, and welcoming learning environments for our students.
BTPS extends its sincere appreciation to the negotiating teams for their dedication and to everyone involved in helping reach this agreement.
Sincerely,
Michelle Webb
Superintendent
Buffalo Trail Public Schools
Trustees have been receiving emails in support of our CUPE members. To ensure consistent and factual communication, we would like to share the following response to these inquiries.
We appreciate your interest in the collective bargaining taking place between the Buffalo Trail Public Schools (BTPS) and CUPE, Local 1606. Below is an update and if you are interested in reading more, please note that BTPS is publishing updates on its website at btps.ca. BTPS remains committed to ensuring factual information is available to employees and the community. BTPS has proposed a 10% wage increase over a four-year agreement for employees represented by CUPE The first of those increases (3%) would come into effect on the first month following ratification of the agreement.
Our proposal takes into account significant upward adjustments made during the last agreement between BTPS and CUPE. In that round of bargaining, CUPE and BTPS agreed to make a one-time market adjustment to employees’ compensation. That adjustment was meant to support equitable compensation for employees. Taking these adjustments into account, along with our current offer, some support staff wages will have increased by as much as 27% between 2023 and 2027, depending on the role.
BTPS is prepared to return to the bargaining table and meet with CUPE. We had hoped to continue bargaining discussions with our mediator; however, when we tabled our monetary proposal, CUPE just reiterated its opening monetary proposal. CUPE then asked our mediator to end the mediation process. We hope that CUPE will come back to the bargaining table and engage in discussions that go beyond its opening monetary proposal.
We encourage you to continue visiting our website for updates on the bargaining process. We remain committed to keeping our school community informed through the process.
This is a follow-up to the recent message about the status of collective bargaining between Buffalo Trail Public Schools and CUPE Local 1606. On February 3, 2025, we received a letter from our mediator formally concluding the mediation process. As we noted before, this was because CUPE asked that the process end. We are now in the two-week ‘cooling-off’ period that is required by the Labour Relations Code.
We want it to be clear that while the mediation process has formally ended, the School Board is prepared to return to the table and continue to bargain with CUPE. We have tabled a monetary proposal that provides for a total of 10% in wage increases over the term of a four-year agreement. To quote our mediator, when we presented this monetary proposal to CUPE, CUPE “… reiterated its monetary proposal and declared there was an impasse.” It did not provide a counter-proposal.
We have heard some misinformation being shared about the status of the negotiations. We were prepared to meet with CUPE on March 24 and 25, 2025, to continue discussions. Those dates had been booked in both our and the mediator’s calendars, and we understood that they were held by CUPE as well. We were surprised to read in a recent communication that CUPE felt these dates were “never confirmed.” The fact is that the March 2025 dates were scheduled, but were cancelled. They were cancelled by our mediator, based on what CUPE stated about its unwillingness to narrow the issues towards a settlement.
Our preference remains that the School Board and CUPE work together to reach a mutually agreeable Collective Agreement. Our hope is that the parties can get back to the table. We have been able to negotiate successive agreements with CUPE, and are hopeful that we will be able to do so again.
As always, if you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact labourrelations@btps.ca. We want to ensure that as we continue through the bargaining process, you have access to the facts.
Buffalo Trail Public Schools (BTPS) is providing an update on the ongoing collective bargaining process with CUPE Local 1606, which represents our valued support staff.
Negotiations began on October 17th and 22nd. Given that this process is still in its early stages, BTPS was surprised to learn that CUPE has applied for formal mediation under the Alberta Labour Relations Code.
Mediation is an option under the Labour Relations Code that is typically pursued when discussions have reached an impasse. While this step represents an escalation, it is part of the negotiation process and moves the parties closer to potential outcomes such as a legal strike or lockout. As a result, the BTPS committee believes that it is appropriate to rely on the assistance of the mediator to make further progress at the bargaining table.
At this time, the Director of Mediation Services has not yet appointed a mediator. BTPS remains committed to continuing negotiations in good faith and to reaching an agreement that supports both our staff and the success of our students.
Our CUPE support staff play a critical role in creating a positive learning environment for our students. We deeply value their contributions and recognize their importance in achieving our mission to provide safe and caring schools that maximize student learning.
BTPS will continue to provide updates on this process as it develops.
Thank you for your understanding and support.
If you have any questions that are not covered here, please direct them to labourrelations@btps.ca.