Alberta teachers discuss deal from province

EDMONTON – One day after Premier Alison Redford announced a new four-year deal has been tentatively reached with teachers, the province’s teachers came together on Saturday to better understand what that deal will actually mean for them if they choose to ratify it.

“I was wondering why this agreement was taken so well in comparison to the past one, it didn’t seem as different,” said teacher Sherri McEwen.

According to Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) President Carol Henderson, there are two big differences.

“No past offer that we’ve had from the government ever dealt with the employment concerns teachers have, meaning they could’ve changed the rules of the game during the course of the agreement,” Henderson says.

She adds that this deal offers protection to teachers through legislation, while also addressing another important issue.

“Previous to this agreement, we had nothing in there that gave teachers any hope for a change in their workload concerns,” Henderson explains. “It wasn’t about money this year, it was about the concerns of teachers with their workload.”

That workload will now be limited to 907 hours (some school divisions currently have a workload of more than 1,000 hours) , with local committees helping determine the best way to reach that. 

Wages, meanwhile, will be frozen for three years followed by a two-per-cent increase in the fourth year.

“We know it’s not perfect…but we believe there’s enough in this agreement that teachers will look at it seriously,” says Henderson.

The teachers’ last collective agreement ended Aug. 31. They walked away from talks in December after the government rejected a four-year offer that included no wage increase in the first two years, one per cent in the third year and three per cent in the fourth year.

The ATA is recommending this agreement to its teachers, who will vote on it in April and May.

With 40,000 teachers in Alberta and 600,000 students, the agreement has the potential to impact a lot of people. For McEwan, who’s been teaching for five years, it’s a positive development in what’s been a long process.

“It’s been a stressful sort of waiting game, so it’s good that we’ve finally reached something. We feel like we’re moving forward now,” she says.

“Teachers are going to come away with a positive outlook, with hope for what’s coming for us in the future… knowing that we’re protected…it’s just going to change the entire demeanor of teachers across the province, which, in turn affects our students.”

Redford has said she hopes this tentative deal with teachers will pave the way for other labour deals. The government has been locked in difficult negotiations with the Alberta Medical Association, which represents doctors who haven’t had a contract for about two years. Alberta’s nurses are set to begin negotiations later this spring.

With files from Shannon Greer, and Postmedia