Contract talks fail between Alberta government and teachers, possible strike looms

Contract talks between Alberta teachers and the provincial government have hit the ditch, leaving open the possibility of a provincewide strike just as hundreds of thousands of students are set to return to classrooms.

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said the Alberta Teachers’ Association has rejected the latest offer despite it meeting everything they asked for.

"Unfortunately, it's becoming increasingly clear that the Alberta Teachers' Association union leadership is only interested in playing politics with our kids," Nicolaides told a Friday morning news conference in Calgary.

"Parents should be furious that union leaders are gambling with their kids' future and their learning."

Jason Schilling, the president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, was scheduled to speak later Friday.

Schilling said earlier this week that pay, classroom conditions, crowding and resources for students are all issues at play.

He had said that if this week's talks weren't successful the union would need to consider its next steps, but that it was in a position to take strike action.

Teachers voted 95 per cent in favour of strike action earlier this summer. The union has to give 72 hours' notice before its roughly 51,000 members can hit the picket lines across the province.

Nicolaides said Friday that the province’s latest offer, borne out of three days of last-minute bargaining, should have been acceptable.

"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.

Teachers had already voted down the 12 per cent figure earlier this summer.

Finance Minister Nate Horner, speaking alongside Nicolaides, said the province had looked to teachers’ salaries in other provinces for comparison and found 12 per cent to be the ceiling.

"We want all of our occupations to be paid the going rate and that's what the data shows," Horner said.

"I don't see that offer changing because the data doesn't show that it should."

Horner also said that given the news Thursday that low oil prices were pushing Alberta into an even bigger forecasted budget deficit position this year -- $6.5 billion -- he doesn't think Alberta could afford a bigger pay bump for teachers.

Picture Courtesy: THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh