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Few things are sadder than a Valentine’s Day breakup, especially when it is messy and public.
There is no doubt that the relationship between the Alberta government and its public employees had been on the rocks for a while, but the February 14 court injunction against Bill 46 issued by Justice Denny Thomas finished it like a strongly worded Dear John letter.
In his judgment on the bill that legislates a settlement for 22,000 workers, Thomas writes that “[the Government of] Alberta never intended that the 2013 negotiations with AUPE were to be meaningful.”
Don’t fret, AUPE, it’s not you—it’s them.
The end of this important relationship could be a real political liability for the Redford Conservatives. A widely pushed narrative suggests the Progressive Conservatives’ 2012 election win came from a new coalition of PC voters, namely soccer moms, teachers, nurses and other public servants.
As with public servants, the relationship between nurses and the current government has also seen better days. Nurses’ retirements are under attack with government’s proposed pension reforms; Bill 45, the ugly stepsister of Bill 46, restricts their freedom of speech rights. And negotiations between UNA and government are ongoing, but far from resolved, meaning an unpopular legislated settlement may still come their way.
If public employees and nurses are heading out of the big tent, what is to be said about teachers?
Teachers already worked their way through divisive bargaining and ended up with their own legislated settlement. Admittedly, Bill 46 is much more draconian than the Assurances for Students Act, which contains a number of professional and workload considerations that teachers were asking for. Teachers are likely getting over the tough rhetoric used in negotiations, but if school boards and government fail to help implement the plans effectively, teacher resentment will grow.
On the pension front, teachers have been spared from pension reform proposals for now, but there is little doubt that pensions will remain under the watchful eye of government. Teachers could still get swept up by misguided reform movements that undermine retirement security in the name of affordability and sustainability.
Education funding has also been a thorny issue for the teacher–government relationship. While the pre-election 2012 budget predicted a 2 per cent grant increase for 2013, the actual budget for boards included a frozen base grant and a number of grant cuts. The result was a massive influx of new students without sufficient funding to support them. The story of this school year has been bursting classes inside crowded schools. The government also promised a 2 per cent increase for Budget 2014; if they listen to their own budget consultations (see infographic, page 3), they will find a way to repair education funding issues.
The biggest threat posed to government–teacher relations, however, comes in the form of the Task Force for Teaching Excellence. The task force has been wrestling with suggestions that principals should be removed from the Association, that the ATA should have its professional functions removed, that a scheme of merit pay should be implemented in Alberta and that the Board of Reference should be eliminated. (The Board of Reference is an effective and efficient mechanism for teacher employment appeals.) These ideas would not be popular with teachers, and if they are taken up by government, it would be viewed as a significant attack on teachers and the profession.
It is quite possible that the task force will land on the right side of these issues and the government will avoid taking on teachers in ever closer proximity to a general election. That would be quite valuable for Progressive Conservative MLAs.
Alternatively, they can take on teachers and try to win an election without the coalition that elected them in 2012. Given other political issues for the PCs, I can’t imagine how it would work. ❚
I welcome your comments—contact me at jonathan.teghtmeyer@ata.ab.ca.
