'Big wins for teachers': Tentative new contract hikes wages, prep time

A tentative collective agreement for most Manitoba teachers one imposinga singlecontract across 37 English school divisions for the first time in the province includes yearly salary increases and other workplace gains.

Last week, the Manitoba Teachers' Societyreached a tentative provincewide deal with the Manitoba School Boards Associationthat will impact 16,000 public school educators, excluding those in the Franco-ManitobanSchool Division (DSFM)or federal bargaining units.

The tentative four-year agreement, obtained by CBC on Thursday, says MTS members employed between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2026, would see their wages increase by a compounded 12.85 per cent.

According to the proposal, teachers would receive annual salary hikes starting at 2.5 per cent for2022-23,2.75 per cent in 2023-24, threeper cent for 2024-25and three per cent for 2025-26.Aretention adjustment of one per cent kicks in in February 2026.

"This proposed agreement offers enhanced work-life balance. Teachers will gain greater control over their time with improved access to leaves, such as personal leave and extracurricular leave, crucial for achieving work-life balance," Nathan Martindale, president of the Manitoba Teachers' Society

"The substantial salary increasesand improved work-life balance are crucial victories for our members."

Not every aspect of the agreement may satisfy everyone, but it represents "a significant stride towards equity for our members," Martindale'sstatement says.

Thebargaining table team is recommending theagreement be accepted by teachers, who will vote on ratification from Aug. 1-7.

MTS teachers have been working under a contract that expiredJune 30, 2022.

Cameron Hauseman, anassociate professor of educational administration at the University of Manitoba, said teachers should be very happy with the offer.

"A lot of the percentage increases year-over-year in terms of salary seem to be big wins for teachers, especially in terms of what we've seen across Canada with some of the other contracts that have come out quite recently," he said.

Hauseman said he is glad the agreement didn't make changes toeducational classifications for teachers, similar to other jurisdictions, which he said will provide an incentive for people to pursue graduate education and other opportunities to improve their skills and earnmore as a result.

• Union worries teachers will lose out on pay bump if school divisions don't offer new deal soon

The tentative deal would see Manitoba with some of the highest teacher salaries in the country, Hauseman said. Class 7 teachers with a master of education degree could make up to $126,481 per year.

The agreement also proposes to increase teacher preparation times to 210 minutes per school cycle starting in fall 2025, a rise from the current 180 minutes per cycle, according to the proposed agreement.

Teachers who speak and teach an Indigenous language for a minimum of 12 per cent of class time and use the language to provide support to the principal will receive a $500 allowance, the proposal says.

The single contract across divisionswould also create more equity in the kindergarten to Grade 12 system by eliminating idiosyncrasies between them, such as whereone might havemore preparation time per week or payteachers a higher wage,Hauseman said.

He also hopes seniority requirements from division to division willrelax, allowing teachers to move to different divisions without any financial penalties.

Typically when contracts are harmonized, they equalize the lowest and highest paying divisions something that "might create a bit of a cost crunch for some divisions," which may have to find the funds to pay teachers the new provincial average, Hauseman said.

"We're also talking about an area where it's become incredibly difficult to recruit teachers. Like we're dealing with the teacher shortage overall right now, but it's incredibly pronounced when we get into those specialties like French," he said.

Hausemanhopes the tentative contract will attract more young teachers or peoplelooking to teach as a second profession.

"When we're talking to young people and when we ask them, you know, is teaching something you would consider as a career choice moving forward, often we'll hear that people think teaching doesn't pay enough."

This contract eliminates that issue, he said.

The "single-tier"bargainingprocess followedthe January 2022 implementation ofThe Public Schools Amendment Act.

The legislationwas passed by Manitoba's former Progressive Conservative government with the goal ofmoving to a singlebargaining agreement for teachers.