Calgary public teachers weren’t doing “cartwheels” when they reluctantly voted in favour of the province’s proposed framework agreement Thursday evening — which putting them at odds with their trustees.
“There was no jumping for joy,” said Frank Bruseker, president of the Calgary Public Teachers Association, shortly after the votes were counted.
Bruseker said teachers expressed concerns over the bargaining process and the prospect of not seeing a salary increase for three years.
“What people did say is, ‘We’re getting closer to the provincial average (salary), the economy is a little weak right now,’ ” he said. “There are some good things: the workload, the hours of instruction clause that we’ve retained, but there was nobody doing cartwheels saying ‘what a wonderful deal.’ ”
The framework agreement requires all school boards and union locals to get on-board. Education Minister Jeff Johnson has refused to reveal what will happen if not all ratify the deal by the May 13 deadline.
Many have speculated the minister might simply introduce legislation to force the deal on those that don’t want it. The provincial teachers union is opposed to any legislated agreement.
As of Thursday afternoon, 44 union locals had voted in favour of the tentative agreement. They represent 23,000 teachers, or roughly two-thirds of those in the province.
Teachers in the St. Albert public system, northwest of Edmonton, voted against last week. The local ATA president said teachers want to stick to local bargaining with their school board and are not in favour of provincewide negotiations.
Forty-eight school boards have either voted in favour or indicated their approval, according to Kim Capstick, a spokeswoman for Johnson.
Eight boards the province classifies as “undecided” as they haven’t voted or indicated intentions.
That leaves six school boards, which Capstick said in a message “we are still working with to clarify the agreement and discuss concerns.”
In March, Calgary Board of Education trustees voted against the deal. The school board cited “hidden costs” and said it was worried too much power over education was being handed to the teachers union.
Bruseker acknowledged Thursday’s vote by Calgary’s public teachers now puts them at odds with their own board and trustees — though he wouldn’t speculate what that would lead to.
“I don’t know what the next steps are going to be,” Bruseker said. “That’s really up to our minister, Jeff Johnson, and to Premier Alison Redford to decide now what’s going to happen with respect to the board.”
Bruseker declined to provide exact results of the vote other than to say about 1,800 teachers were present and a clear majority voted in favour of the deal.
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