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Alberta’s teachers have narrowly accepted a mediator’s recommendations for central table bargaining.
After electronic voting ended on June 8, 51.1 per cent of members who voted had chosen “yes” and 48.3 per cent voted “no.”
These results send a clear message that teachers have run out of patience, even though they are willing to live with the mediator’s recommendations, said ATA president Jason Schilling.
“We know that most teachers, regardless of how they voted, feel that the mediator’s recommendations were inadequate,” Schilling said. “The results clearly show that this offer is the absolute minimum that teachers were willing to accept, and this tells the current government that their actions and rhetoric on issues like pension, curriculum, professionalism and basic respect have pushed teachers to the limit of their tolerance.”
“These results communicate to TEBA that teachers’ concerns on these important issues cannot be ignored in the future,” Schilling added.
The board of directors of the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) met on Friday, June 10, and also voted to ratify the mediator’s recommendations. With both sides ratified, the recommendations become an agreement, and central table bargaining is concluded. The recommendations will be incorporated into the 61 collective agreements for teachers and school boards.
Schilling said teachers will expect the government to fully fund the costs of the agreement, without diverting funds from the classroom.
Sean Brown, ATA associate co-ordinator of collective bargaining, said the vote result establishes a strong mandate for the next round of collective bargaining.
“For three rounds of bargaining, the government and TEBA have refused to address key issues around teaching and learning conditions, and teachers, students and classrooms cannot wait any longer,” he said. “So with local bargaining looming and as the provincial election draws near, teachers will use public advocacy and political action to press for much-needed and long-overdue improvements. And in the next round of central table bargaining, those accounts will come due.”
Teachers can view the full details of the recommendations in the Members Only area of the ATA website. They are encouraged to reach out to their Teacher Welfare Committee (TWC) member if they have questions. ❚
VOTE RESULTS
YES
11,721 votes
51.1%
NO
11,080 votes
48.3%
ABSTAINED
120 votes
0.5%
Total votes = 22,921
