Government and Teachers "wage" war!

At the annual Alberta Teachers' Association General Assembly, Education Minister Dave Hancock told teachers that they should consider the possibility of not receiving salary increases in the coming years to help fund the education system. Oh the problems that this could cause as I have mentioned in previous posts.

Like everything there are two sides to this story. Both with reasonable concerns and issues. I will try and weave through the issues and come to a possible solution.

Government: The issue here is that the government of Alberta is under extreme scrutiny as of late by the electorate, as small as that is here, for spending and management. Thus their scrutiny of teachers is an easy target for them to show that they are trying to rein in spending.

Teachers: The ATA signed a multiyear deal with the Government to ensure that no strikes will be taken, and that the government would cover the pension fund (which the Klein government raided in the 90's). As a part of this deal it was agreed that teachers would receive a wage increase if and when the average wages of albertans (calculated by stats-canada) increased. In laymen terms, salaries are tied to inflation. If there is inflation, salaries increase. This past year teachers received a 2% increase which the government intends school boards to cover resulting in cuts and job losses.

The problem: The problem here is that school boards will not be able to cover increases each year without budget increases from the government. If the boards can't cover these costs and the government refuses to cover them, we have a breach of contract. Teachers and support staff lose jobs, class sizes increase, technology decreases. You get the idea.

Solutions: Unfortunately things never tend to work out in a balanced, fair way. Often the government wins. Here is what I would like to see done.

1) Because the government has taken the position it has, I believe the ATA has no choice but to pressure the government into covering the raises and fulfill their terms in the contract. Thus the government agrees to cover raises .

2) Once the government has agreed to this, the ATA show leadership and encourage school locals to either "forfeit" or "donate" raises for the following year back to the school boards/districts or donate it to parent councils, which in turn donate it back to the schools.

3) Alberta Teachers take the stance that they are partners in the public education system, and by forfeiting raises show that they are committed to this.

The result is that the government is shown it must uphold terms of the contract, as well it will save $$ and the teachers gain much needed publicity in this province.

Can it be done? Sure. Will it be done? Probably not.