TEACHERS on the MARCH: the 2002 STRIKE © Copyright 2014 Unauthorized Use Or Duplication Without Prior Approval Is Strictly Prohibited
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© Copyright 2014 Unauthorized use or duplication without prior approval is strictly prohibited. ISBN 978-1-927074-18-3 The Alberta Teachers’ Association 11010 142 Street NW, Edmonton AB T5N 2R1 Telephone 780-447-9400 or 1-800-232-7208 www.teachers.ab.ca TEACHERS ON THE MARCH: THE 2002 STRIKE © Copyright 2014 Unauthorized use or duplication without prior approval is strictly prohibited. ISBN 978-1-927074-18-3 The Alberta Teachers’ Association 11010 142 Street NW, Edmonton AB T5N 2R1 Telephone 780-447-9400 or 1-800-232-7208 www.teachers.ab.ca CHAPTER 1 SETTING THE SCENE 4 The Klein Revolution and the Assault on Teachers ...................................4 Public Education and Its Funding: Shoring Up the Base ...........................4 Bargaining in the ‘90s: Six Years of Slogging ...........................................8 Conclusion .........................................................................................12 CHAPTER 2 THE LEAD-UP TO THE DUST-UP 13 The Fall of 2000: Bargaining as Usual ..................................................13 Funding: The Frustration Continues .....................................................13 Internal Affairs ..................................................................................14 The Election of 2001 ...........................................................................15 The Other Settlements .........................................................................16 The Premier’s Dinner ..........................................................................17 The Provincial Budget .........................................................................18 The Association Responds ...................................................................19 The Plan ............................................................................................21 The Resolutions ..................................................................................25 CONTENTS Teachers Wrote .................................................................................26 Focus on ARA ....................................................................................31 The President’s Letter .........................................................................31 The Backgrounder ...............................................................................32 The Minister’s Position .......................................................................34 ARA 2001 .........................................................................................36 The President’s Address ......................................................................37 Two Emergent Resolutions ..................................................................39 The Assembly on the Steps ...................................................................42 Media Coverage ..................................................................................44 End of the Beginning ...........................................................................45 CHAPTER 3 COORDINATED BARGAINING 46 Planning Strategy ...............................................................................46 Preparations and Public Relations .......................................................47 Strikes on the Horizon.........................................................................51 The Pension Gambit ...........................................................................55 The Timing of the Strikes ....................................................................56 The Players ........................................................................................57 Planning ............................................................................................... 60 The Media ........................................................................................... 60 The Strikes ........................................................................................... 63 Back to Work, or Not ............................................................................ 63 The Challenge ........................................................................................ 64 The Decision ......................................................................................... 65 Organized Labour and the Association ..................................................... 68 The ASBA ............................................................................................ 68 The Premier and the President ................................................................ 69 Bill 12, Education Services Settlement Act ............................................ 71 The Media: Losing the PR Battle............................................................. 76 Reacting to the ESSA ............................................................................ 78 Negotiating the ESSA ............................................................................ 83 The ESSA Interpreted ............................................................................ 84 Public Perceptions ................................................................................. 85 Teacher Perceptions ............................................................................... 86 CHAPTER 4 ARBITRATION 88 Organizing the Arbitration Process ......................................................... 88 The Preliminaries .................................................................................. 89 The Association Brief of General Argument ............................................. 90 The ASBA Brief ................................................................................... 95 The Six Test Cases ................................................................................. 97 Ongoing Negotiations ............................................................................. 98 The Awards .......................................................................................... 98 Reasons by the Chair ............................................................................. 99 Responding to the Awards .................................................................... 100 Winners and Losers ............................................................................. 100 In the End ........................................................................................... 101 3 Foreword: • On February 4, 2002, the largest teacher strike in the history of Alberta commenced. It didn’t just happen. It followed years of chronic underfunding of public education by the Klein government. Alberta’s Minister of Learning, Lyle Oberg, did not undertake any efforts to make this different. Teachers did not feel respected and were increasingly denied the opportunity to do their best work. Student learning conditions (and teachers’ conditions of professional practice) continued to erode. Finally, the teachers of Alberta had had enough. None of this could have happened without the exceptional leadership of ATA President Larry Booi and the Association’s Executive Secretary Dr Charles Hyman, truly remarkable efforts by staff and a high level of unity among Provincial Executive Council, local teacher leaders and rank and file members. As described in this monograph, much happened before, during and after. There were substantial efforts to achieve the conditions of professional practice required by teachers in the period leading up to the strike. The strike itself placed enormous strain on government and the profession. And the Klein government’s handling of the aftermath—the passage of the Education Services Settlement Act—did nothing to make things better. Tensions continued to run very high, as teachers withdrew their voluntary services and government MLAs were chastised for their treatment of teachers. The arbitration award dealt with the collective agreements, and the resolution of the strikes provided for a commission to study the education system, especially matters relating to classroom conditions. The report of Alberta’s Commission on Learning, released in October 2003, included some positive recommendations that were FOREWORD implemented by government, including class size guidelines that served to improve classroom conditions for Alberta teachers. Although there has been significant erosion from these guidelines in the past few years, the achievement of improved classroom conditions was also an important aftermath of the 2002 strike. I want to acknowledge the outstanding work of long time Association staff member Winston Nettleton, who took on the task of writing this monograph. Winston served as a Teacher Welfare staff officer for two decades, including service as Coordinator, Teacher Welfare, prior to his retirement before the 2002 strike. I also want to acknowledge the work of Shelley Svidal, Administrative Officer, Government, who edited the monograph. The publication of this monograph is a reminder of the importance of leadership, unity and collective action in the pursuit of the legitimate goals of the teaching profession. Gordon R Thomas Executive Secretary August 2014 Teachers on the March: The 2002 Strike 4 SETTING THE SCENE system, together with the amalgamation of school jurisdictions, created a certain rough equality on the input side of the education The Klein Revolution and finance equation. The differences in output the Assault on Teachers demands were, for the most part, simply ignored. The Klein era began with funding cuts, slashed salaries, The amalgamation of school jurisdictions,