Living Sky School Division and their support staff's union have no beefs with one another.
Having just signed a three-year agreement with the division, CUPE Local 4747 president Brenda Cubbon says the Living Sky board must be the best to negotiate with in the province.
Speaking after the official signing of the contract Wednesday, Cubbon said the division's negotiating team was very supportive and very fair.
"We've never had a bad contract with them," she said.
The contract covers approximately 450 support staff positions throughout the division who will see a five per cent increase in wages over three years. Cubbon said they also "topped up" the educational assistants, as they are the biggest population within the local.
There were some language changes, she added, particularly around the ability to earn days off in recognition of voluntary service, but not many other changes.
Superintendent of Human Resources for Living Sky, Brenda Vickers, said it was an interest-based negotiation. The goal was to do the best within current circumstances, putting kids at the centre of their talks.
The negotiations started in May, and there were five sessions, which Vickers and Cubbon both described as brief but productive.
Cubbon said the union's team understood that the provincial government has a stronghold on the funding available to school divisions for support staff. To that extent the division's hands are tied, she indicated, but within that understanding they still did their best to come to a fair agreement.
The agreement was ratified by a 94 per cent union vote. CUPE Local 4747 represents support workers such as educational assistants, secretaries, journeymen, library technicians, bus drivers and caretakers.
The new collective agreement will be effective from Sept. 1, 2013 to Aug. 31, 2016.
