Alberta teachers reject mediator's recommendation, consider strike vote

Teachers in Alberta's public, Catholic and Francophone schools have rejected a mediator's proposal that would have given them an average wage increase of 15 per cent over four years.

The offer didn't go far enough to address teachers' concerns about crowded classrooms, packed with a growing numbers of students who have complex and differing needs, said Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) president Jason Schilling.

"Teachers are feeling burned out and frustrated, and they wanted to see more," Schilling told CBC News Wednesday.

Of the nearly 36,000 teachers who voted earlier this week, about 62 per cent rebuffed the recommendation, according to the association. The ATA, which has 51,000 members, had recommended members approve the offer.

Schilling says including class-size caps in the agreement was part of the ATA's initial proposal to the government.

B.C., Quebec, and Ontario are legally obligated to account for class sizes and complexity in teachers' pay. Earlier this year, an arbitrator ruled the next contract for Saskatchewan teachers must account for the number of students with additional needs in their classrooms.

The mediator proposed assembling working groups to discuss how schools can tackle an influx of students to the province, as well as growing numbers of English language learners and students diagnosed with a disability or medical condition.

Alberta teachers don't want more talking, Schilling said. They want adequate funding for schools, including more teachers and support workers.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides is disappointed that the teachers rejected the offer, he told reporters at the legislature Wednesday.

"We await to hear from teachers about what more it is that they're looking for and [to] see how we can work with them to get a deal done," Nicolaides said.

The deal included $400 million to improve classroom conditions, he added.

The provincial government has also committed $8.6 billion to the School Construction Accelerator Program, a plan to build 90 new schools across Alberta in the next seven years to help alleviate a space shortage.

"I'm confident that we're moving in the right direction," Nicolaides said.

Teachers discussing strike authorization vote

ATA members are now in a 14-day cooling off period, after which they can vote to apply to the Alberta Labour Relations Board to authorize a strike vote.

If that passes, the association says teachers will take a strike vote.

Should they vote in favour of a strike, teachers have 120 days in which to take job action. That could involve options such as working to rule, cancelling extracurricular activities, rotating strikes or a walkout.

Alberta teachers last staged a province-wide strike in 2002. School underfunding and class sizes were flash points in the dispute.

During news conference Tuesday, Schilling said it is "very possible" teachers will take job action, but he could not predict when.

The threat of disruption comes after a winter of school support worker strikes involving thousands of employees in Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, and other school divisions. 

Nicolaides said he hopes the parties can avoid a strike. But he added that the education ministry is planning for that possibility — including the spectre of a teacher walkout when students are scheduled to write provincial standardized exams.

Opposition NDP education critic Amanda Chapman was not surprised that teachers dismissed the mediator's recommendation, she told reporters Wednesday.

Chapman said teachers have received about a five-per cent salary increase in the last decade, while the cost of living has ballooned.

The recommendation also didn't go far enough to address classroom complexity, which many teachers say is a bigger concern than their pay, she said.

"Teachers are really not working under conditions that are conducive either for themselves as teaching professionals and for the kids in the classroom," Chapman said.