EDMONTON- The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) will begin local bargaining on teachers contracts, after rejecting the province’s alternative offer.
The ATA received an alternative offer from the Alberta government on Friday however, the President of the ATA says there wasn’t anything new in the offer for teachers to consider.
“There was nothing there that would cause teachers to give it support,” explained Carol Henderson.
Henderson says their main concern is that the province did not offer any assurances for improved conditions of practice for teachers, mainly where workload is concerned.
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“We know that with the government going in the direction of any time, any pace, any place, that it’s going to be more work for teachers and more reporting, and we know that there have to be some conditions that are laid out for teachers,” explained Henderson.
The Minister of Education says he had hoped to come to a long-term, province-wide deal but, there were a few points that couldn’t be agreed upon.
“We think it’s very important for the government, the province of Alberta, the legislature, the minister to retain the ability to set standards for teachers in the province. The ATA requested that we would not make any changes to any of those things over the next four years and essentially that they would have a veto over the government for even changes on policy with respect to teaching standards, and we can’t agree to that,” explained Minister of Education, Jeff Johnson.
The ATA is now moving ahead with unrestricted local bargaining, where 62 school boards will sit down at 62 tables and negotiate an agreement in the best interest of that jurisdiction.
“Everything that was on the table for tripartite is off the table. Local bargaining starts at square one,” Henderson explained, “We are going through a regular process that we have done for years and years and we are not expecting disruption. We are expecting that schools will stay open and that students will be served and that’s our goal.”
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