Teacher association president denounces government approach to teacher contracts

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This article was published 24/07/2020 (1823 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

An arbitration decision plus a struck-down provincial bill could be costly for local school divisions, but president of the Hanover Teacher’s Association Wendell Head argued provincial wage freezes attempts had constitutional problems all along.

Two particularly notable committee items appeared on the Hanover School Division agenda at the June 30 meeting. One concerned the effect of the Louis Riel School Division arbitration decision earlier this year on Hanover School Division, while another concerned a court update in reference to Bill 28.

Among other things, the award for teachers in Louis Riel School Division comes to retroactive increases in salary by 1.6 percent for the last school year, and a raise of 1.4 percent for the 2019/2020 school year. Head said such money in the past has come in lump sum payments.

According to a May 8 CBC article by Nicholas Frew, the increase in teacher payments could cost Louis Riel School Division approximately $7.8 million.

Seine River School Division superintendent Mike Borgfjord said arbitration in one school division can affect arbitration in others. Borgfjord said every school board could eventually be in a similar situation as is Louis Riel School Division.

Hanover School Division board chair Rick Peters said it was difficult to know how much money local school divisions might have to pay teachers due to recent decisions, and said the school board is looking to a decision that results from Pembina Trails School Division arbitration. Arbitration is set for hearing in January 2021.

It’s unclear how long it might take before local teachers might receive more money. Head said associations bargain multiple things at once, but added the provincial government’s tendencies could confound efforts at increasing pay for teachers.

“With all that’s going on, and [given] a government that’s inclined to pass legislation like Bill 28,” Head said, “who knows.”

In June, a Manitoba judge struck down the provincial government’s Bill 28 on grounds that included the bill violated the constitutional rights of public sector workers. The bill was an attempt to freeze public sector wages.

“We have a charter-protected right to associate as a union and negotiate our contracts,” Head said. “The government can’t just legislate contracts.”

The provincial government passed the bill in 2017 but the bill was never proclaimed into law. Judge Joan McKelvy noted in her decision the bill was nonetheless effectively in force, and the bill influenced negotiations.

School divisions are between a rock and a hard place, Head said. They’re disinclined to go against the government since the government funds a good percentage of their budget, but in this case, it turns out the government was wrong, he said.

“I’m assuming most [school divisions] didn’t put aside money for retroactive pay,” Head said.