Teacher salaries have fallen way behind
Bargaining is underway, and framing the discussion properly is key for teachers, the government and the general public to find fair solutions. Expectations need to be created that align with this framing. Teacher salaries, being publicly bargained and available to view on every district website, are always a difficult area. In discussions with teachers and non-teachers, proper framing has been missing.
To start, Alberta teachers are not among the highest paid in Canada. BC teachers, to use a comparator province, have outpaced Alberta teachers significantly over the past decade and now earn approximately five per cent more. Bargaining needs to take place with the understanding that Alberta teachers are not richly compensated compared to others.
Secondly, teachers have not received significant raises from previous governments. Since 2013, teachers have received 0%, 0%, 2%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0%, 0.5%, 1.25% and 2%. That includes agreements with PC, NDP and UCP governments. The result is a salary increase of 5.87 per cent over the past 10 years. In that same time frame, inflation in Alberta has been over 30 per cent. When framed appropriately, it is clear that teacher pay has fallen behind inflation significantly. As Alberta’s inflation rate is the highest in Canada, teachers continue to fall further behind. Teachers have sacrificed for the good of the provincial coffers for the last decade, and the cost of that must be recognized.
Framing negotiations properly for bargaining needs to reflect these realities. The proper framing is that teachers have fallen 24 per cent behind inflation over the past decade while Alberta has posted the highest provincial income in our history, with the highest resource revenues and largest surplus ever recorded. A fair deal requires this framing to be acknowledged. If how far salaries have fallen isn’t adjusted now, when will it be?
Keith Harrison
Teacher, Palliser Local No. 19
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