Deal expected today for province’s teachers

Halloween will either be trick or treat for negotiators trying to work out a tentative labour agreement for the province’s 36,000 teachers.

Alberta Teachers’ Association president Carol Henderson said she doesn’t believe talks will be cut off and that there will be a deal, or an extension of negotiations.

“I’m suspecting that we’re probably close,” she said.

Today is the self-imposed deadline for the province, teachers union, and the association that represents school boards to get an agreement.

“I am very hopeful that we are going to walk away with a deal,” said Jacquie Hansen, president of the Alberta School Boards Association.

The three parties agreed in July to negotiate a provincewide tentative agree- ment covering items like compensation, workload and the length of the deal. They committed to an Oct. 31 deadline.

Local issues will be left to school boards and their local unions to work out.

Alberta Education Minister Jeff Johnson has said he’s in favour of a tripartite agreement, but he has also warned that the province is unwilling to spend any more than the one per cent base grant increase this year, and two per cent the following two years.

The teachers union has said workload, and not compensation, is the driving issue during these negotiations.

The minister said he’s looking for ways of reducing workload but is not in favour of a hard cap on hours.

If tripartite negotiations fail, it means all bargaining will fall back to the 60 school boards and their local unions.