CALGARY- Today marks the deadline for teachers and Alberta’s 62 school boards to agree to new contracts.
The province set a deadline of 3 p.m. on Monday for a unanimous agreement, and while most have voted in favour of the contract some, including the Calgary Board of Education, have rejected the deal.
The education minister says if it isn’t accepted, the province could walk away from the deal, legislate an agreement or even fire school boards that reject it.
In a news release sent Monday morning, the government says Education Minister Jeff Johnson remains confident a province-wide labour agreement between Alberta’s 62 school boards and their teachers can be reached before Monday afternoon’s ratification deadline.
Six school boards have still not accepted the deal, but all have votes scheduled for today.
“We believe the province-wide Framework Agreement is in the best interests of teachers, school boards and students and their parents and fulfils our commitment to put kids first,” Johnson said in a release. “Albertans in their thousands told us during the Inspiring Education dialogue that they want us to continue to transform the education system to meet the needs of a new generation of students,” he added. “That can only happen in a stable labour environment.”
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But, after meeting with the outstanding boards Monday, Johnson is facing the prospect of a labour deal with teachers without the support of the province’s largest school board.
The Calgary Board of Education, representing 108,000 public school students, has voted to affirm its earlier rejection of a tentative province-wide teachers agreement.
The board has said it’s concerned about unforeseen costs and the possibility that the deal gives the teachers union too much authority.
The education minister will provide an update by phone Monday at 4:15 p.m.
The four-year agreement negotiated between government and the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) in March would see compensation for 40,000 Alberta teachers frozen for three years. That will be followed by an increase of two per cent in 2015-2016 and a one-time lump sum payment – to be funded by government – in that same year.
The deal also commits the Redford government to review teachers’ workload – a key issue over nearly three years of talks between the government, the ATA and the Alberta School Boards Association.
The premier isn’t making any promises about what could happen if the remaining boards don’t accept the tentative deal.
In March, Calgary Board of Education trustees voted against the deal, citing “hidden costs” and said it was worried too much power over education was being handed to the teachers’ union.
The St. Thomas Aquinas Roman Catholic School Division was the latest to reject the province-wide deal in a 7-2 vote on Wednesday night. Fort Vermilion, Clearview, and the East Central Francophone Education Region are reportedly the other school boards to vote against the agreement.
With files from the Canadian Press
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