The Alberta Lecturers’ Affiliation says the province is delaying and sabotaging the bargaining course of after the federal government introduced it has filed a criticism with the Labour Relations Board in opposition to the union representing the province’s 51,000 academics.
Finance Minister Nate Horner stated Monday the criticism is related with a doc that was distributed by the union after it set a strike date of Oct. 6. final week.
The federal government says the doc consisted of false claims, together with that Lecturers’ Employer Bargaining Affiliation (TEBA) doesn’t have the mandate to barter class complexity, class dimension, and helps for college students.
“The knowledge within the ATA doc is inaccurate,” Horner stated in a press release.
“TEBA has been left with no selection however to launch a authorized problem. The Alberta Labour Relations Board acquired our criticism right this moment, asking the ATA and its president Jason Schilling to instantly retract their false claims and to cease utilizing Alberta’s college students and households for leverage in a bargaining dispute.”
Schilling known as the province’s criticism frivolous.
Get every day Nationwide information
Get the day’s high information, political, financial, and present affairs headlines, delivered to your inbox as soon as a day.
“The very fact is that authorities negotiators have constantly acknowledged in bargaining that they lack the mandate, the cash and political authority to deal with each academics’ issues about classroom studying situations and expectations for satisfactory compensation,” he stated.
“To accuse academics of deceptive households isn’t solely false, it’s a lie that’s deeply insulting to each single one in every of my colleagues throughout this province.”
The ATA’s Oct. 6 strike announcement final week got here after talks between the union and the federal government broke down over wages and dealing situations.
The federal government final supplied a wage improve of no less than 12 per cent over 4 years in addition to a promise to rent 3,000 academics over three years. It has additionally promised to take a position $8.6 billion over seven years to speed up new faculty builds.
Premier Danielle Smith has stated the ATA has to make a stark selection between heftier pay hikes and extra academics.
Schilling stated the ATA introduced a counteroffer final week however the authorities has not responded to it.
Schilling added Smith is presenting a false selection and it’s potential for academics to have an excellent wage and good working situations.
He stated academics have solely seen a 5.75-per-cent wage improve over the past decade and the final authorities wage provide didn’t sustain with inflation.
“Lecturers are in search of wage will increase that sustain with present inflation and replicate the rise in workload that they’ve, in addition to having the ability to have a wage that can entice and retain academics inside this province.”
He stated the union final met with the province final Friday and there have been no new conferences deliberate.
He stated the criticism the province introduced on Monday displays that it isn’t severe about reaching an settlement.
“The federal government type of indicated that they don’t need to negotiate additional till the criticism has been resolved,” he stated.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
