With only a year left in teachers’ four-year collective agreements, nearly half of ATA bargaining units are still engaged in local negotiations.
Local bargaining couldn’t begin until the last school year after central bargaining faced delays related to the pandemic, and then arbitration to determine which matters to negotiate centrally versus locally. After the first year of bargaining local agreements, 36 units have now settled, with 25 remaining.
ATA’s chief negotiator Sean Brown is not worried about the pace of bargaining, so far.
“We are on track, similar to past rounds,” says Brown, the ATA’s associate coordinator for collective bargaining. “Our initial settlements have been more challenging than expected in our first 20 units. We already have several units in mediation, which has not been the typical experience for the first settlements in the past.”
Units that have settled so far have been able to secure meaningful improvements for teachers, including long service incentives, professional development gains and advancements for substitute teachers and administrators. Big-ticket items like salary, benefits and high-profile working conditions are not being bargained at local tables, since they were bargained centrally.
Brown says there will be some school divisions where local bargaining will encounter difficulties.
“In some units there are a lot of discussions around the level of respect felt by teachers from their employers,” says Brown. “Where respect is a concern, it is much more difficult to reach a settlement.”
Calgary Catholic teachers authorize strike vote
Teachers with Calgary Catholic School Division voted 97 per cent in favour of authorizing a government-supervised strike vote at the end of June. Actions by the employer there also resulted in a complaint of unfair labour practice to the Alberta Labour Relations Board.
“Calgary Catholic teachers are frustrated by the stubbornness and lack of respect shown by the employer during this round of bargaining,” said Calgary Catholic Teachers’ Local president Allison McCaffrey, at the time of the vote.
Since the summer, negotiations resumed in Calgary Catholic, and a strike will likely be averted as the third-party mediator has written recommended terms of settlement. In mid-October teachers and the board will vote on the recommendations, which, if approved, will form an agreement.
“Ultimately, our teachers wanted to be respected at the bargaining table, and they wanted to be treated fairly relative to the rest of the province,” said McCaffrey.
Calgary Catholic won’t be the only sticky point, Brown says. Despite this, he is hopeful that local bargaining could conclude in all 61 school divisions by spring.
“As the process proceeds, members will get updates from their local bargaining committees. I would encourage everyone to reach out to their Teacher Welfare Committee representative or their school rep for more information.”
Central and local bargaining will overlap in some areas
Teachers’ current collective agreements are set to expire on Aug. 31, 2024, so Brown and his team will also be preparing for the next round of central table bargaining. Beginning in January, the first phase of bargaining will involve the ATA and government/school board representatives discussing which matters will be bargained centrally and which will be bargained locally in the next round.
“We are actively in the planning phase right now,” says Brown. A survey has been sent to teacher welfare committees asking for input on the list bargaining phase. But this work must be done simultaneously with the wrap- up of local bargaining.
“This is the fourth round of central bargaining since the process changed in the winter of 2016, and each time, there have been challenges around the simultaneous bargaining at the local and central tables,” says Brown.
Understandably, this process can confuse members since the next round seems to start as soon as one round is completed. It has felt like perpetual bargaining since the 2016–18 round.”
“We will do our best to differentiate our communication to not conflate the two different rounds, but it will be important for members to engage in both,” says Brown.
Brown says he has been at some tables where employers believe that teachers received enough improvements at the central table. As a result, local bargainers are struggling to get employers to make moves to address the local concerns raised by teachers.
“If an employer is unwilling to make changes or additions to local provisions, then local teachers will need to decide what they are willing to do to effect change.”
