The Alberta Teachers’ Association

This past Victoria Day long weekend, I joined more than 450 teacher delegates in Calgary for the Association’s 95th Annual Representative Assembly (ARA).

I hope you will forgive ATA staff and ARA delegates who pray for rain every May long weekend, for it is comforting to think that we might not be missing glorious weather when we’re sitting in a hotel ballroom conducting ATA business. This year’s ARA accomplished its important work by dinnertime Sunday. The meeting was scheduled to run Sunday evening and through to Monday afternoon so, happily, delegates did enjoy a reprieve.

ARA acts as the parliament for the Association; it is where policy is proposed, debated, amended (if required), endorsed or rejected, and it is where the Association’s yearly operating budget is set.

Teachers who attend ARA do so willingly; they find the experience professionally rewarding. Indeed, many delegates contest local elections to obtain a spot at ARA.

ARA is testament to the solid democratic principles of our organization. The ratio of members to representatives is a remarkably low 100:1. Delegates employ their best professional judgment to form opinions on educational issues and then argue for or against their position alongside colleagues from across the province. Meetings are formal but the spirit is often jovial. Robert’s Rules of Order ensures that the will of the house is determined in an appropriate manner.

In the end, strict adherence to fundamentally sound democratic principles is important. An effective and thorough review of educational issues by teacher representatives allows the ATA to hold strong as the voice of the profession and as the expert authority on teaching in Alberta. The process ensures that the Association’s leaders can say with confidence to the government, to other educational organizations and to the public: “Teachers in Alberta believe that …” or “It is the view of the profession that …”

The democratic approach to deciding policy applies also to setting the ATA’s yearly budget. As well as publishing a synopsis of the proposed budget in the ATA News, producing a proposed budget video and distributing workbooks to locals for feedback, the Association provides delegates with a 217-page, line-by-line comprehensive budget. The budget is reviewed thoroughly by delegates before ARA, and the budget’s fate is determined by that representative body.

The ATA’s level of representation belies the critics of labour organizations who suggest that labour groups advocate against their members’ wishes or spend their members’ money on political activities their members do not support. These critics use their political influence to restrict the ability of labour groups to gain political influence. For example, they might push to restrict the right of unions to lobby, advertise or make donations to ­political parties.

An issue on which the anti-union lobby has been successful is deviously dubbed “paycheque protection.” The concept made its way into the PC Party’s election platform. According to the party’s election document, a PC government would introduce legislation requiring trade unions to “give members the ability to ‘opt-out’ of the proportion of union dues that fund activities unrelated to collective bargaining and grievance administration.”

Such a proposal flies in the face of charter rights related to freedom of association and freedom of speech. No reason exists why a member-driven organization should not be able to pool resources and conduct activities on behalf of its members. Attempting to prevent unions from doing so ignores the fact that unions and associations are built upon democratic principles and suggests that members have no voice. Paycheque protection is designed to perpetuate the myth that unions are undemocratic and totalitarian.

I can say confidently that the Alberta Teachers’ Association is member-driven and that it speaks on behalf of teachers and the teaching profession. I can say this without fear of contradiction because of the very foundations underlying the Annual Representative Assembly and the long weekends in May sacrificed year after year by thousands of our members.