Alberta votes for lockout option ahead of potential school strike mandate

Contract negotiations between the province and the union representing Alberta teachers is at a stand-still. CTV News Edmonton's Evan Kenny reports.

The provincial government has voted for the option of locking teachers out of work ahead of a potential school strike mandate and now waits labour board approval, CTV News has learned.

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According to a document obtained by CTV News, the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA), the provincial group responsible for negotiating with teachers, voted 47 to 13 to lock out the teachers.

“In response to the Alberta Teachers’ Association’s strike vote earlier this year, the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) applied to the Alberta Labour Relations Board for a lockout vote,” the Office of the Treasury Board and Finance told CTV News Edmonton in a statement.

“The results of the vote, received at this point from the TEBA, require formal acceptance from the Labour Relations Board (LRB). We will wait for the LRB confirmation of the results before commenting further.

“This lockout vote only provides the employer the right to lock out employees. The TEBA would only utilize a lockout as a reactionary response, if it appears that union tactics could harm students and families. Our hope is that TEBA will not have to use it.”

TEBA could lock out teachers from working as a way to put pressure on negotiations and get a deal signed.

They would have 120 days to go through with a lockout and would need to give 72-hour notice.

Bargaining between the province and the Alberta Teachers’ Association came to a halt on Thursday.

At a news conference earlier on Friday, Finance Minister Nate Horner said the province’s latest offer, which came from those negotiations, would be the last.

“In this instance, we’re talking about a 12 per cent general wage increase for every teacher and 95 per cent of teachers would get up to 17 per cent, that’s what’s on the table,” Horner told reporters.

“We’ve tried to come with a fair offer. That’s what’s on the table. And depending where this goes, I don’t see that offer changing.”

He added with a larger-than-projected deficit of $6.5 billion on the horizon, the province might not be able to afford to go any higher.

Education Minister Demetrious Nicolaides accused the teachers of changing their requests as the bargaining process went on.

“For months (teachers) have been talking openly about the need to increase funding, hire more teachers, improve working conditions, and provide more supports for teachers.

“However, we have now learned that wages are their main concern,” Nicolaides said.

“I’m not sure what’s happening, but we cannot and will not play politics with our kids.”

The province has promised a 12 per cent pay increase and to hire 3,000 more teachers over the next three years, he said.

In June, 94 per cent of Alberta teachers voted in favour of a strike.

Teachers had 120 days to take action after the vote, making the deadline for a possible strike Oct. 7.

The union must give 72-hours notice before a strike, but so far no notice has been given.

Jason Schilling, the president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, said Friday morning he was still hoping for a deal to be reached without any job action.

“Ideally, we’d like to see a negotiated settlement that doesn’t involve any kind of job action, but we have to see what ongoing negotiations or talks will come about.”

He said the province’s promise to hire new teachers is barely enough to cover population growth, let alone reduce class sizes.

“When half of new teachers in our profession leave within the first five years of their career, the message is clear: the education system in Alberta is unsustainable,” Schilling said.

“It’s time for government to step up with a fair deal for teachers, because a fair deal for teachers is a good deal for kids.”

He also denied that the union is politicizing the situation.

“We are showing the reality of what is happening within our schools in Alberta,” he said.

“The fact that they don’t have the very things that they need to do their jobs all while watching their salaries fall further and further behind is not politicizing, it’s telling the truth.”

Some Alberta students have already headed back to class, while the rest had been scheduled to return next week.

With files from The Canadian Press