Three divisions to adopt wage freeze

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This article was published 28/02/2019 (2594 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

At least three rural school divisions in Westman plan to adopt the wage freeze laid out in Bill 28, even though the provincial legislation has not come into effect and negotiations have not yet started with several teachers’ associations.

The superintendents for the Turtle Mountain, Fort La Bosse and Rolling River school divisions say they will follow Bill 28, or The Public Services Sustainability Act, which mandates a two-year wage freeze for public-sector workers, followed by a 0.75 and one per cent increase in years three and four.

Bill 28 passed in the legislature in 2017, but a date has not been set to proclaim it — the bill is currently being challenged in court.

Meanwhile, divisions and union representatives have cited the uncertainty around the possible amalgamation of bargaining units for teachers as having put contract negotiations on hold for the time being.

“No, we have not commenced bargaining, primarily due to waiting for just some further clarification regarding where the province may be going with provincial bargaining and what the parameters will be surrounding that, as well as Bill 28, with regards to the wage freeze for two years and the .75 per cent and one per cent,” Turtle Mountain Supt. Tim De Ruyck said.

“So there are some variables at play that we don’t have answers to right now, which is why we haven’t begun the process.”

Collective agreements in seven divisions, including Brandon, Turtle Mountain, Southwest Horizon, Fort La Bosse, Park West, Rolling River and Beautiful Plains, expired in June 2018, along with several others in the province.

Negotiations have not started between the Brandon School Division and Brandon Teachers’ Association.

Last week, the division indicated that it would follow the salary framework in Bill 28, including the first-year wage freeze.

In a previous statement, Education and Training Minister Kelvin Goertzen said the province has “openly encouraged the parties to pursue local bargaining to achieve a voluntary approach that best protects the education of our children and delivers stronger future opportunities for them, while protecting Manitoba ratepayers against increased taxes.”

The province also suggested in a letter last summer from then education minister Ian Wishart and former finance minister Cameron Friesen that moving away from the current 38 bargaining units would require legislation, but to not expect anything to be introduced until at least the fall. To date, the province has not introduced a bill.

De Ruyck said it is normal for contracts to be solidified in the years after they expire. But with the circumstances being what they are, he said they, like many divisions, continue to be in a “holding pattern.”

De Ruyck added that they would also adhere to Bill 28 until the division hears otherwise.

Fort La Bosse Supt. Barry Pitz also pointed to uncertainty around changes to provincial bargaining as having impacted negotiations.

On Bill 28, Pitz said it is a provincial directive that the division supports. “And our direction is to continue to work with government,” he said. “Therefore, we are moving along with the intentions of Bill 28.”

In an email, Rolling River Supt. Mary-Anne Ploshynsky said the division has not started bargaining with the teachers’ association and would be following the salary framework in Bill 28.

Beautiful Plains secretary-treasurer Shannon Bayes said that while the division and teachers’ association have exchanged letters to open bargaining, they have not received any “opening packages” to start those negotiations.

She said Bill 28 and the possible amalgamation of bargaining units were not factors. The Sun did not receive responses from the Southwest Horizon or Park West school divisions, or from several local union heads.

“We’re kind of in a wait and hold,” said Park West Teachers’ Association president Adam Grabowski. “We started our process, but we’re just sort of hanging on until we find out from both sides if we’re ready to go and what the government has to do.”

Rolling River Teachers’ Association president Daniel Kiazyk said bargaining remains ongoing, and that like the rest of the province, they are waiting to see what the province decides on provincial bargaining.

“There’s a lot that’s in flux,” he said.

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