With just 51.1 per cent of total ballots supporting the mediator’s recommendations, Alberta teachers have narrowly voted to accept a four-year bargaining agreement with the province.
The four-year deal will see a 3.75 per cent wage increase for teachers — which is not retroactive — and a two per cent increase on daily rates for substitute teachers in lieu of benefits.
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In a media conference on Friday, the Alberta Teachers Association said 48.3 per cent of 22,921 total ballots were against the deal and 120 voters abstained.
“While these results tell us that the mediator’s recommendations are something teachers are willing to live with, it is clear that teachers have run out of patience and future bargaining must address these issues: like class size and composition,” said ATA President Jason Schilling.
After spending the last four weeks visiting across the province, Schilling said the ATA heard teachers’ concerns about classroom conditions: class sizes and being able to meet the complex needs of students.
Schilling said the ATA also heard teachers don’t like the provincial government’s rhetoric on issues like pension, curriculum “and basic respect.”
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He said Alberta teachers have been pushed “to the limit of their tolerance.”
“Teachers have voted, by the thinnest of margins, for stability when the public education system really needs it, and they did so despite the current government’s recklessness and indifference to the state of our classrooms,” Schilling said.
In a news release, acting minister of finance Jason Nixon said: “I am pleased to hear that ATA members and TEBA have accepted the mediator’s recommendation for a four-year central agreement.
“Alberta’s teachers have always played an important role in our province, and in the lives of young Albertans. The hard work and dedication of teachers does not go unnoticed.
“I want to thank both TEBA and the ATA for their efforts over many months of negotiations. This agreement will set the stage for stability in Alberta’s education system.”
The ATA estimates that the wage increases in the four-year contract will cost a total of $157.4 million.
More to come…