A day after news broke that the province and Alberta’s teachers had reached a tentative agreement, the premier and the Alberta Teacher’s Association confirmed a deal had been reached.
The province said the agreement is for four years, with a salary freeze for the first three, followed by an increase of two percent in 2015, and a one-time lump sum payment that same year.
The ATA has recommended the agreement, and the teachers will be asked to vote on it.
The development comes after more than two years of discussions between both sides – teachers have maintained wages and workload issues are paramount.
“We thought it was worth one more shot to do something that was really going to support teachers across the province that allows for stability and certainty in the education system” Premier Alison Redford said Friday.
Even as recently as last month, Education Minister Jeff Johnson issued an ultimatum to the union that the government’s offer would be off the table once the budget was released.
In recent weeks, the ATA had rejected an offer the province said was a final attempt.
However, the union said this offer is being recommended by the union because it addresses teacher workload.
“Fifty-six hours a week is the average, and we know we couldn’t sustain that, and it had to be addressed,” ATA President Carol Henderson said. “I believe this offer will get us to really seriously look at the expectations of workload for teachers.”
Under the tentative agreement, teacher workload will be reviewed by Alberta Education, both on its own and through a third-party study – in addition, similar reviews will be carried out by the province’s 62 school boards.
The agreement sets the framework for negotiations across the province on major issues like salary and workload – but any issues on the local level would have to be negotiated by separate school boards.
Johnson admitted the local school boards might have some difficult decisions to make, regarding many of the terms of the agreement.
“We’ll absolutely make the commitment, we will fund the increases, and the increases are in year four and the other pieces, some of the local negotiations, some of them may have implications on their budgets,” Johnson said.
The Alberta School Boards Association told CTV News they have some serious reservations on the deal – in terms of how local boards will be able to meet workload requirements, without impacting students. ASBA wasn’t included in the latest round of negotiations.
Johnson said all three sides spent quite a bit of time at the bargaining table together – but it became more productive to carry out separate negotiations – and a process is in place to allow for some flexibility.
In Edmonton, the two main school districts have differing outlooks on the tentative agreement.
Edmonton Public Schools said the new deal will be costly.
“While there’s an appearance of a zero, we do have a number of ongoing increment increases that we face with having more experience and having more education,” EPSB Trustee Sarah Hoffman said.
According to Hoffman, the deal, along with cuts in the provincial budget, could translate to program and staffing cuts.
On the other hand, Edmonton Catholic Schools is applauding the agreement.
“There is a comfort I knowing those parameters and then we simply move forward and work within them,” Edmonton Catholic School Board Chair Becky Kallal said.
The province said officials hope to find out if ASBA will support the deal, by Sunday, it’s hoped voting on the deal will take place as soon as possible.
With files from Amanda Anderson
