Tentative deal reached between N.L., teachers
The union representing Newfoundland and Labrador's teachers has reached a tentative deal with the provincial government.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association said Monday in a statement that it is recommending its members accept a wage package worth about 21.5 per cent over four years.
The tentative deal mirrors the wage provisions that Premier Danny Williams has asked all public-sector unions to accept.
The deal, if approved after a certification vote in the new year, will see teachers in the public school system receive an eight per cent raise in the first year of the contract, retroactive to Sept. 1.
The tentative deal also includes wage increases worth four per cent per year, for an additional three years.
"The association is pleased that teachers will be receiving a significant salary increase after several years of no increases or minimal increases," NLTA president Sean Noah said Monday in a statement.
Noah said other details of the collective agreement will not be revealed to members until after the Christmas break.
The agreement comes just after two other tentative contracts.
On Friday, the Treasury Board reached deals with the Association of Allied Health Professionals, which represents therapists, dietitians and others, as well as with group home workers represented by the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
Last week, Finance Minister Jerome Kennedy warned public-sector unions that the template of its offer — now the basis of four collective agreements — would remain on the table until Dec. 31.
After that point, Kennedy said, government would only offer the first-year bump of eight per cent, and that the raises of the three following years may be diminished.
The NLTA, which represents about 6,400 teachers, will hold a vote on the deal on Jan. 22.
Kennedy said that government is expecting the wage template will increase its labour costs by more than $500 million over four years.
Kennedy said government may run a significant deficit next year if global oil prices do not rebound.
The Newfoundland and Labrador Nurses' Union, which broke off conciliation talks with the government and its regional health authorities this fall, has repeatedly described the wage offer as inadequate in resolving chronic staffing shortages in hospitals and nursing homes. The nurses' union is organizing a strike vote in January.