Public education at risk due to bargaining impasse, ATA warns

Without fair wages and improved conditions for teachers and students, Alberta risks driving away its most valuable educational resource: its teachers, says Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) president Jason Schilling.

After talks broke down between the ATA and the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA), Schilling said teachers have been firm and unequivocal in saying that the government’s latest offer does not recognize the important work teachers do within the public education system, especially when teachers have been disrespected and undervalued for years. 

“The government needs to do the right thing and pay teachers fairly for the work they do with the children who will be responsible for Alberta’s future,” Schilling said.

The government’s latest offer is centered around a proposed salary increase of 12 per cent over the next four years, the same offer that teachers rejected in June, Schilling said.

It’s getting harder to keep teachers in the profession and to attract new people to an increasingly challenging job, as teacher pay has fallen far behind inflation and the cost of living, Schilling said. Over the last decade, teacher wages have increased by a total of just 5.75 per cent. 

“With fair wages, we can hire more teachers — and keep the ones we have — but we need the provincial government to step up,” he said.

Schilling added that teachers are not just seeking fair compensation, they’re seeking alignment between words and actions. If the government believes teachers are vital, as the premier recently stated, it’s time to reflect that in all aspects of teachers’ jobs.

The government offered teachers a deal that included the hiring of 1,000 new teachers per year, over the next three years. This was a positive move forward but addressed only part of the proposal that the ATA tabled in June. 

“More still needs to be done to attract and retain teachers to fill these added positions,” Schilling said. 

In June, teachers voted 94 per cent in favour of strike action, giving the ATA until Oct. 7 to initiate a strike should bargaining efforts fail to deliver an agreement. On the employer side, TEBA was set to take a lockout vote on Aug. 29.

Schilling said the ATA’s Provincial Executive Council will be assessing the current state of central bargaining and considering next steps. Meanwhile, he’s urging TEBA to return to the table with an expanded mandate to address teachers’ salary expectations.

“Teachers are the pillars of our public education system,” he said. “It’s time for the government to step up with a fair deal for teachers, because a fair deal for teachers is a good deal for kids.”

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