Teachers employed by the Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School Division have voted 97 per cent in favour of authorizing the Alberta Teachers’ Association to request a government-supervised strike vote.
Despite eight days of bargaining and mediation, teachers have yet to receive the school division’s best offer, and recent actions from the division have resulted in a complaint before the Alberta Labour Relations Board of unfair labour practice.
“Calgary Catholic teachers are frustrated by the stubbornness and lack of respect shown by the employer during this round of bargaining. There is a clear unwillingness from the bargaining team to want to reach a settlement, and they seem to want to delay and stonewall rather than negotiate.
Ultimately, our teachers want to be respected at the bargaining table, and they want to be treated fairly relative to the rest of the province.”
—Allison McCaffrey, president of Calgary Catholic Teachers’ Local No 55
At a general meeting held June 22, Calgary Catholic teachers received an update regarding the significant challenges faced by their bargaining team at the table. Teachers also received information on the division’s position, which is substantially worse than settlements achieved in 27 other divisions so far across the province.
Teachers are notably upset by increasing expectations for teachers to undertake voluntary work or face employment consequences. Other outstanding issues include leave days, consultation on calendar, staffing and compensation for substitute teachers, and administrators who are obligated to work on scheduled days off.
“Teachers are upset that they are not given the opportunity to make decisions about their own voluntary activities. Despite teachers bringing forward constructive solutions, the board negotiators are not willing to work through the issues that are important to teachers, and as a result the bargaining process has broken down.”
—Allison McCaffrey, president of Calgary Catholic Teachers’ Local No 55
McCaffrey is urging Calgary Catholic negotiators to return to mediation with a mandate and attitude toward achieving a settlement. If that is not possible, then the Association will have no option but to request that the mediator “write out” of the dispute. A two-week cooling-off period would begin after the mediator “writes out,” at which time the ATA would be able to request a government-supervised strike vote. A strike vote could occur in late August, the outcome of which could impact the beginning of the 2023/24 school year.
“Teachers remain hopeful that the board will see value in reaching settlement and that further action will not be needed.”
—Allison McCaffrey, president of Calgary Catholic Teachers’ Local No 55
The Alberta Teachers’ Association is the professional association of teachers in Alberta and acts as the bargaining agent for all teachers employed in public, separate and francophone school divisions. The Calgary Roman Catholic Separate School Division employs approximately 3,300 full- and part-time teachers in Catholic schools in Calgary, Airdrie, Chestermere and Cochrane.