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Teachers to vote on contract terms

May 10, 2022 ATA News Staff

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Information meetings scheduled for teachers to learn about terms recommended by mediator

Teachers will have an opportunity to learn about and vote on new collective agreement terms that would apply to every bargaining unit in the province.

Following informal mediation between the Central Table Bargaining Committee (CTBC) and the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA), a mediator has issued recommended terms of settlement for central table bargaining.

As a result, the ATA is hosting a series of in-person and online member information meetings (MIMs) to provide the details of the recommendation, respond to questions and allow teachers to discuss. The full schedule of MIMs is below.

Following these meetings, at the beginning of June, teachers will vote on whether to accept or reject the mediator’s proposal.

“The CTBC bargains for teachers, and teachers have the final say,” said ATA president Jason Schilling. “I know teachers have been waiting a long time for this news, and it’s now time for them to familiarize themselves with the recommendations, what the recommendations will mean for them and decide how to vote.”

For Peter MacKay, chair of the Central Table Bargaining Committee and district representative for North West, the recommendation comes following an intense round of central table bargaining.

“CTBC fought hard for the things that matter to teachers, such as salary, class size and composition, and instructional and assignable time,” he said. “Your team never abandoned the positions that mattered to you, and brought into mediation the entire initial proposal, with nothing dropped. However, the other side had its own convictions, and as we anticipated, the mediator pressed for compromises.”

“Teachers have the final say on whether to accept the terms of settlement, and we will now be taking the time to speak to and hear from our members.”

Attend a meeting

The meetings are scheduled by region, and although teachers can attend any session they wish, MacKay says attending the meetings that have been arranged for their particular region will give them the best access to information pertaining to their bargaining unit.

“There will be some items that are very specific to particular bargaining units,” he said. “Attending the meeting that includes your district will give you the best understanding of what the recommendations mean for you.”

MacKay also noted that each bargaining unit has one in-person and one virtual session, but they are not necessarily on the same day. He encourages teachers to take note of whether the session they plan to attend is in-person or virtual.

Teachers can review the details of the mediator’s recommendations, and see the full MIM schedule with corresponding documents in the Member’s Only section of the ATA website.

Teachers are also encouraged to reach out to their Teacher Welfare Committee (TWC) member if they have questions. ❚

 

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