Alberta Teachers’ Association approve strike authorization vote

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Alberta teachers have voted in favour of strike authorization.

Some 38,000 members — about 84 per cent of those eligible — turned out to vote May 22-26.

Of those, 99.45 per cent favoured the move towards a strike vote.

Jason Schilling, president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, said he’s very pleased with the turnout.

“This would be a record turnout for voters in the association,” Schilling said.

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“This is our first time going down this path under central table bargaining,” he said.

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Earlier in the month, 62 per cent of the eligible members who turned out rejected a mediator’s settlement recommendation.

The ATA has two ways of bargaining — central table bargaining, which looks at larger items, such as salary, benefits, classroom conditions.

There is also local bargaining, which takes place once central table bargaining is completed. This week’s vote represents the first time since 2015 the ATA has gone down the strike authorization path, Schilling said.

“This is a loud and clear message from teachers that the government needs to do more, and it starts with funding public education. We’re the least funded school jurisdiction in all of Canada, and that’s impacting our classrooms. Some teachers are looking for solutions that are real and tangible, around class size, around addressing the complex needs of our students, the mental health needs of our students, and being able to address having resources for our students with special needs,” Schilling said.

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Teachers were very clear that they felt that the salary offered in mediation didn’t make up for inflation losses or keep pace with current inflation, he said.

The union’s initial starting point numbers of around 34 per cent were calculated in terms of salary power lost to inflation over a decade, he said.

“Teachers took eight years of zeros for a while, and had a modest increase in our last collective agreement,” he said.

The union’s last round of central table bargaining two years ago saw increases of under four per cent over two years.

Ranges for teacher salaries around the province vary with factors like years of service and education, but starting salaries range around $55,000 to $60,000 a year, and those near the top of the grid would earn around $100,000 a year, Schilling estimated.

The ATA’s current collective agreement expires in August. The next move depends on provincial executive council decisions over the next few days.

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If an acceptable resolution is not reached with the province’s school boards beforehand, a positive strike vote would give the union 120 days to strike.

jcarmichael@postmedia.com

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