Funding issues cloud teacher negotiations
No guarantee, no concessions, union says
As Alberta’s finance minister paints a bleak picture of the province’s fiscal situation, doubts are emerging about whether the government can stay true to its promise of three years of predictable education funding.
The province’s growing financial problems could throw a wrench into teacher contract negotiations, as school boards have been banking on funding certainty over the next two years as they delve into labour talks.
The Redford government had promised in last February’s budget a one-per-cent increase in the base instruction grant for this year, followed by two per cent each of the following two years.
But Finance Minister Doug Horner said Wednesday that cabinet ministers are being warned about financial restraint. Even in health and education, “everything’s on the table, or off the table.”
Horner met with school board trustees Tuesday night in a closed-door meeting, where he was questioned about the education budget.
“I was asked whether or not I would make a commitment then and there that we would be able to guarantee everything that was in the budget, or that we were going to take it off the table,” Horner told reporters Wednesday.
“I can’t do that right now.”
Some trustees were taken a back, but others said they weren’t surprised by the comments, given the province’s financial situation.
The press secretary for Education Minister Jeff Johnson said he “is doing everything he can” to make sure the funding promise remains intact next year and the year following.
But there is no guarantee after that, Kim Capstick said, and school boards need to be cautious when negotiating salaries with their teachers.
Premier Alison Redford said Wednesday there is no “bottomless pit of money,” but she was “pretty confident” the three-year budget commitments would continue.
Teacher contracts all expired at the end of August, and 62 school boards are in talks with their Alberta Teachers’ Association locals.
Horner’s financial warnings have sent shivers across the province.
Frank Bruseker, president of the union that represents Calgary public teachers, said it’s difficult to forge ahead with negotiations when the government is presenting a “moving target” fiscal position.
“(Horner) says we have to be concerned about Albertans’ money, and he completely forgets what Albertans want in terms of services,” Bruseker said.
“What Albertans want in terms of services is a good, strong education system and he ... isn’t prepared to continue with a commitment to that.”
Calgary Catholic School District chairwoman Mary Martin said the ministers told trustees Tuesday the future funding commitment could be “up for consideration,” but they also pledged to do their best to meet it.
She noted that wages are not the primary issue in talks with the Catholic board’s local union.
“I’m confident we’re in very good shape moving forward,” Martin said of the negotiations.
But there is trepidation. The president of the union local that represents Calgary Catholic teachers said the concern is the school board will be reticent to agree to certain things, fearing it will be caught out if funding goes south.
“The three-year funding was good because it gave us a stable idea of ‘will this work or will this not work,’” Wendy Beier said. “With the funding in doubt, it becomes kind of guesswork again.”
Alberta School Boards Association president Jacquie Hansen said school boards fought for stable funding.
“We need to know what our cost certainties are,” Hansen said. “(The province) holds the purse strings, we’ve got to deliver education. That was something the province had promised.”
The province had been bargaining directly with the union that represents 42,000 Alberta teachers in an attempt to forge a province wide framework that would guarantee labour peace over four years. Those talks fell apart earlier this month. It’s now up to individual school boards to negotiate all contract items with their union locals.
The teachers had agreed to a wage freeze this year and the next, followed by a one per cent and then three per cent increase. But with provincial negotiations failing, the Alberta Teachers’ Association has said all its concessions, including those on salaries, are off the table.