Teacher deal would match raises
A tentative deal for Alberta teachers would match any future pay raises for nurses and other government and health-care workers.
On Monday, teachers were the first major group of Alberta public employees to reach a tentative agreement with the provincial government and school boards.
The offer includes no new salary increases.
Several other public sector unions are bargaining with government, or about to begin bargaining.
The contract, which must still be voted on by teachers and school boards, includes a “me-too” clause — a promise that government will extend to teachers any general wage increases or lump-sum payments offered to five other union groups.
Such a clause in collective agreements is “not very usual,” said Bob Barnetson, a professor of labour relations at Athabasca University. Such terms indicate a low level of trust between the parties, he said.
“They don’t want to get screwed by signing early and have someone else negotiate a better deal,” Barnetson said of teachers.
The terms put even more pressure on the Alberta government to hold the line on public workers’ salaries, he said.
The Journal has obtained a copy of the memorandum of understanding. Neither the government or Alberta Teachers’ Association has released details.
When asked about the clause, teachers’ association president Mark Ramsankar said it doesn’t interfere with other public sector workers’ negotiations.
“We want to make sure that provisions are in place to protect the membership and the content of the memorandum,” Ramsankar said.
The groups named in the me-too clause are the United Nurses of Alberta, the Health Sciences Association of Alberta, and Alberta Union of Provincial Employees workers in government, support services and auxiliary nursing.
A spokesman for the nurses’ union, which is in the midst of negotiating a new contract with Alberta Health Services, said metoo clauses are usually applied on a much smaller scale and within the same profession.
The deal with the teachers shouldn’t have much effect on the union’s talks, even though the health authority’s finances are controlled by the province, director of labour relations David Harrigan said.
“They have to negotiate in good faith, and not say, ‘I can’t give you this because if I do some school board in Vegreville has to give the same increase to a teacher,’ ” he said.
The Health Sciences Association of Alberta declined to comment, and the president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees was unavailable Thursday afternoon.
Also included in the tentative teachers’ contract is a new provincial limit on “assigned time” — the time school boards can require teachers to spend instructing students, attending meetings, supervising recess, and other duties. An association memo to teachers describes it as a “big win.”
The limit doesn’t mean teachers will work fewer hours, Ramsankar said. It should free up more of their time for tasks like lesson planning and marking.
The new cap shouldn’t cost school boards any more money, said association spokesman Jonathan Teghtmeyer.
Despite no wage increases granted in the agreement, teachers will continue to move up in the salary grid based on classification and years of experience.
A one-time $75-million classroom improvement fund also included in the agreement is meant to improve teachers’ working conditions and offer more help to students.
Each school district will strike a committee of teachers and district representatives to choose how to spend the portion allotted to each of the province’s 61 school boards.
The money will be divvied up based on student enrolment. Edmonton Public Schools will receive $10.6 million, the Calgary Board of Education $13 million, and Edmonton Catholic Schools $4.6 million.
Alberta’s 46,000 classroom teachers will vote on the agreement from May 11 to 14. School board representatives will vote on the deal May 24. If approved by all parties, the contract applies from Sept. 1, 2016 to Aug. 31, 2018.
Finance Minister Joe Ceci won’t say how much the tentative deal would cost Albertans until the contract is approved.