CROSS-COUNTRY CHECK-UP
AN OVERVIEW OF CHANGES AND CHALLENGES IN EDUCATION
BY VIVIAN MCCAFFREY W
hen we step back and examine what educa- tion workers in other parts of the country are experiencing and
which policies their provincial and territo- rial governments are adopting, it helps us better understand the situation in Ontario. It also illuminates the extent to which gov- ernments shape policies by following the lead of other jurisdictions. Education workers across Canada are
not experiencing the extreme right-wing assaults that characterized the mid-1990s and early 2000s. However, the economic downturn and declining enrolment, ex- perienced broadly nationwide, are leading most provincial governments to adopt an austerity agenda and hold back from in- troducing education reforms. Given that education unions have memberships that are predominantly female, austerity in the education sector is clearly a women’s issue.
NEGOTIATING UNDER AUSTERITY
In Ontario, we’re faced with a government focused on balancing its budget through “net-zero” public sector bargaining and by delaying overdue education reforms such as providing more support for students with special needs and reducing class sizes in Kindergarten and grades 4 to 8. It may be
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small comfort, but educators in other prov- inces face similar challenges to negotiating salaries that keep up with the cost of living and to achieving improvements to working and learning conditions. Outside of Ontario, British Columbia
presents the most high-profile example of a teacher union battling its government over an austerity agenda. In 2002, the BC government introduced legislation that im- posed a net-zero contract on teachers and other education workers and removed the ability of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) to negotiate class size or class composition. BCTF has been fighting the government’s abrogation of bargain- ing rights since then, winning two favour- able decisions from the BC Supreme Court. Both have been ignored by Christy Clark’s Liberal government. BCTF has taken its case to the federal Supreme Court. In the meantime, after a protracted strike in 2014, BCTF’s latest collective agreement provides a 7.25 percent salary increase over five years, not likely to match inflation. Under a Progressive Conservative govern-
ment and before the oil crisis, Alberta teachers were subjected to a four-year collective agree- ment that included a salary freeze for the first three years followed by a two percent increase in the fourth year plus a one percent lump- sum payment. That agreement expires in
August. Time will tell whether Alberta teach- ers fare better under the NDP government. In November, Alberta introduced legislation modelled after Ontario’s education sector bargaining legislation, establishing two-tiered bargaining. In December, in response to lob- bying by the school boards’ association, the bill was amended to give trustees a say in determining what would be negotiated at the central table. The trustees may have used the Ontario legislation to support their case. In April, Alberta presented a budget that in- cluded salary freezes for MPPs and executive officers in the public service and government- funded agencies, a potential harbinger of fu- ture public sector bargaining constraints. Elsewhere in Canada,
teachers have
mobilized against unacceptable manage- ment demands. During fall 2015, Quebec teacher unions participated in strike ac- tion that involved a provincewide one-day walkout and a series of rotating one-day strikes in the face of government demands for a salary freeze for two years and a one percent increase in each of the following three years. Other demands included larger class sizes, elimination of more than 800 resource teachers and pension changes. Following the strike action, the Quebec unions achieved a settlement that included a 5.25 percent increase over five years plus a 2.5 percent improvement to their salary
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