Red Deer Catholic teachers vote to authorize strike vote: ATA

Red Deer Catholic teachers have voted in favour of authorizing a strike vote.

Two votes were held at a recent in-person meeting attended by about 75 per cent of members.

At the first vote, the school board's latest offer was rejected, and the second authorized the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) to hold a strike vote.

Each vote was supported by more than 99 per cent of members, the ATA says.

"Teachers are clearly upset with their employer right now. They are incensed that the board’s only proposal in bargaining so far would strip away longstanding provisions from the collective agreement, and they are demanding to be treated with respect," said Sara Lambert, president of Red Deer Catholic Local No 80 in a Friday news release.

Lambert says teachers are looking for improvements on issues related to substitute teachers and school administrators.

"The board wants to strip out professional development provisions and remove up to 20 members from the agreement. They have made negotiations adversarial and antagonizing when a deal could easily be reached," Lambert said.

The ATA says if the board doesn't return to the bargaining table with intent to move forward, they will ask the mediator to initiate the two-week cooling-off period.

After that time, the ATA could hold a strike vote.

The ATA says only five of 61 school boards in Alberta have not settled for the current term of bargaining, which dates back to September 2020.