Minister of Education Ron Liepert makes offer regarding unfunded pension liability
As outlined in this April 19 letter, the government of Alberta is offering the following to Alberta teachers in a bid to address the unfunded portion of the teachers’ pension.

as of September 1, 2007, the government is offering to pay, for one year, a portion of the teachers' share of the unfunded pension liability on a sliding scale which sees more money going to less experienced teachers in a bid to address recruitment/retention issues. The government will cover 100 per cent of the contributions for all first year through to five year teachers.

the government is creating a task force which will seek to resolve this issue. The makeup and terms of reference for this task force have not been finalized. There are suggestions the task force will include a government representative, an Alberta Teachers' Association representative and a chair who will be a public citizen who has knowledge of pensions. This task force will consult with others, including school boards.

the government would like these talks to occur against the backdrop of labor peace and has asked the provincial ATA for an undertaking that teachers will not strike during these talks. It has also asked the ASBA for similar reassurances regarding lock-outs. The goal is to ensure students are at school learning and the task force can do its work.

the government is committed to open and transparent talks about this question.

the ATA would decline to participate in the task force on the grounds the task force’s mandate appeared to be limited to studying the unfunded liability issue and implementing the government’s “sliding scale” model. Furthermore, the immediate effect of the task force would be to delay any negotiations toward a solution until November 2007 at the earliest.

the ATA urged the parties to begin negotiating immediately toward a fair, reasonable and lasting resolution to the issue.

the ATA believed that, until a settlement had been reached, the government should offset the cost of the unfunded liability for all teachers.

the ATA could not provide the guarantee of labour peace demanded by the government because, under the collective bargaining model currently in place in Alberta, decisions about collective bargaining are made democratically by the teachers in their locals.

Spring edition of ASBA At Your Service now online
The ASBA legal department spearheaded the development of the April edition of the ASBA At Your Service newsletter. This edition looks at employer’s responsibilities when dealing with chronically ill employees, changes to the Local Authorities Election Act and a recent privacy ruling with regard to laptop computers. See the Legal Briefs section on the ASBA website for the following additional articles:

Employee curiosity leads to $10,000 fine

RCMP reinforces employer’s responsibility to stop harassing behaviour

Arbitrator rules programming needs trump collective agreement provisions

elements of effective Board Highlights

strategies individual trustees can use to keep in touch with their constituents

planning school board meetings that celebrate student and staff accomplishments