INNISFAIL - Red Deer Catholic Regional Schools (RDCRS) hopes to continue to work with the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) in an effort to reach a new collective agreement for its teachers, says vice chair Dorraine Lonsdale.
“It is the intention of RDCRS to continue a principled and respectful approach while bargaining the local items tabled by both sides while arriving at a mutually acceptable agreement,” Lonsdale told the Albertan.
“The school division highly values its teachers and in addition we are responsible to students, parents, and our communities.
“RDCRS has a duty to preserve our programs and services to manage our complex education system and to be financially accountable for our decisions. These three pillars extend also to our bargaining of collective agreements affecting our employees.”
Local bargaining has broken down between the RDCRS and the ATA, association officials said Monday.
The sides met for two days of bargaining late last month but failed to reach a new agreement.
Sara Lambert, president of Red Deer Catholic Local No. 8., said teachers in the division have been called to a bargaining meeting on Feb. 14 to discuss next steps,
In a media release Monday, she said the position tabled earlier by the school board “included a number of offensive proposals attempting to strip out longstanding provisions from the collective agreement.”
Teachers will be asked for direction on how to proceed with the bargaining process, she said.
The ATA made an application on Dec. 14 with the Alberta Labour Relations Board to have a mediator appointed.
A mediator was appointed on Dec. 19, 2023, with several meetings including the mediator having taken place.
If the mediator exits the bargaining process, a two week cooling off period could be followed by the ATA applying to hold a strike vote.
“Red Deer Catholic teachers just want to be treated with fairness, respect and decency,” Lambert said.
“Instead of getting a deal done, negotiators are wasting time, playing games and unnecessarily antagonizing teachers. We deserve to be treated better.”
Following the cooling off period, the school division could hold a lockout vote.
The 10,600-student RDCRS division includes schools in Innisfail and Olds. There are abut 700 contracted and substitute teaches currently working in the division.
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