Tripartite Negotiations dead

Well the government of Alberta is once again trying to wiggle out of the contact it signed with teachers. The three groups at the table in the tripartite negotiations are the ATA, the ASBA and the Government of Alberta. The idea is to talk teachers into giving up their 4.3 per cent increase in pay which is owed to them contractually. In exchange teachers will spend less time teaching in classrooms, about 9 days per year and will participate in 12 PD days per year.

OMG - the government is so very out of touch with teachers it is a complete joke. Firstly most teachers remember the last time they were asked to accept a rollback in wages and how they simply got screwed while other sectors of the economy forged ahead. Secondly most teachers like being in the classroom. They are already under serious time pressure to complete their curriculum in a year, so telling them they will have 9 less days is not a plus. If those 9 days were going to be guaranteed to be days to catch up on planning and marking then you might have something but to say they have to spend more time in silly PD sessions?????

Is it any wonder the negotiations are dead! Under the contract teachers get more money, more time in classroom with the kids (which they like) and fewer lectures on stupid out of touch teaching methods.

The government says the negotiations are not dead and they plan to return to the table ... LOL ... well they better come up with something new.