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34 of 62 agreements signed
As of press time, teachers had settled in 34 of 62 bargaining units. Settlements have seen teachers gain on leaves of absence and employer payment of group benefit premiums, as well as matters specific to the locals.
Teachers in Foothills voted the week of November 24 on an agreement that gives teachers two paid personal leave days at no cost to teachers. The agreement also resolved matters specific to the local, such as improving the inclement weather provision and lengthening timelines for applying for professional improvement leave and sabbatical. The Foothills agreement demonstrates that teachers made significant gains and dealt with local matters that disentitled teachers for a long time.
In Northland, which settled the week of November 17, teachers have historically been the highest-paid teachers on the salary grid, but other provisions in the collective agreement lagged behind. For example, while the vast majority of teachers in Alberta qualify for 90 days of sick leave in their second year of employment, Northland teachers had only statutory sick leave (20 days per year) until their third year. A provision disallowed couples working for Northland to both participate in family benefit plans: both spouses could take single benefits or one spouse could take family benefits with the other as a dependent. This provision left these teachers in Northland without benefits enjoyed by other teachers and left them vulnerable to having no coverage should their marital status change. The sick leave and spousal benefit plan provisions were amended in this memorandum of agreement.
Teachers in High Prairie achieved a memorandum of agreement with the assistance of a government-appointed mediator. The agreement provides High Prairie teachers with an ASEBP vision plan and brings teachers closer in line in compensation with their comparator jurisdictions. Also, like teachers in Northland, teachers in High Prairie had a provision in their agreement that disentitled some teachers and left them vulnerable. The High Prairie collective agreement allowed the employer to know the name and address of medical practitioners seen by the teacher, under the sick leave provisions, or by a member of the teacher’s family, under the family medical provisions. Teachers and the school board agreed to remove these provisions.
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