Education minister says union 'playing politics' with Alberta students over strike threat

Alberta authorities to bring home the bacon update on instructor bargaining negotiations

Negotiations betwixt Alberta teachers and the provincial government have broken down days before most kindergarten-to-Grade 12 students return to the classroom.  

In a joint news conference Friday, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides and Minister of Finance Nate Horner said that mediated contract negotiations with the Alberta Teachers' Association have reached an impasse, pinning the failed talks on the union.

Horner said the province is facing a ballooning deficit of $6.5 billion, $1.3 billion more than initially projected.

He said the province made an offer that would have cost the province $750 million over the life of the contract and he is disappointed that the union walked away from talks.

He said public sector agreements must be financially sustainable and strike a balance between fair wages and easing the current pressures on taxpayers but Alberta has been committed to striking a fair deal.

"The bargaining team walked away from this offer," he said. "That's why I'm disappointed to be here today." 

Nicolaides said it has become increasingly clear the union is only interested in "playing politics" with Alberta students by threatening to strike. 

A 12-per-cent salary increase for teachers was offered along with a pledge to hire 3,000 more teachers across the province, he said. 

He said he can't understand why Alberta's "generous and competitive" proposal was declined. 

He said no counter offer was made by the union before talks broke down.

He said the union is not being transparent about they want from negotiations. He said the ATA has claimed to be advocating for improved classroom resources but are solely interested in securing higher wages for their members. 

"I'm quite baffled, to be completely honest," Nicolaides said.  "Parents should be furious that union leaders are gambling with their kids' futures and their learning. We are giving union leaders exactly what they asked for and now they have walked away." 

The ATA has scheduled its own news conference with association president Jason Schilling expected to speak with reporters at 10:30 a.m. MT. You can watch it here live.

It's the latest in increasingly tense contract negotiations, which have put parents on edge as students prepare for a return to the classroom next week. 

Teachers and administrators at all public, Catholic and francophone schools across Alberta are in a legal strike position.

Schilling has cautioned that 51,000 teachers are prepared to walk off the job if the union and school board representatives are unable to reach a deal in mediation this week.

According to the provincial government statement issued Thursday, teachers have been "offered what they asked for" but have walked away from talks."We are deeply concerned and disappointed with the decision of the Alberta Teachers' Association to break off negotiations with so much at stake, and so close to a reasonable settlement," the joint statement reads. 

"The union's strategy and tactics have been exposed and called out. We cannot sit idle while the public, parents and students are manipulated into supporting a union that has shown its primary interest is in diverting supports away from the classroom to further drive up teacher compensation." 

In a June strike vote, almost 95 per cent of teachers who voted said they were in favour of taking strike action. Nearly 39,000 teachers cast ballots online and in person between June 5 and 8.

That followed teachers' rejection of a mediator's proposal that would give teachers at least 12 per cent in wage increases over four years. 

Schilling said the June vote signalled that pay, classroom conditions, crowding and resources for students were unacceptable.

Schilling has said that for too long, teachers have been propping up a system that is under-resourced and overburdened.

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