Manitoba’s anglophone school divisions have signed a historic agreement years in the making.
The 37 divisions and the Manitoba Teachers’ Society (MTS) officially signed a new collective agreement on Tuesday – the first ever agreement involving all school divisions.
The process took about two years to complete.
MTS President Nathan Martindale hopes the agreement will help attract and retain more teachers.
“Teaching is a good job. We’ve talked recently that recruitment and retention of teachers is a problem not only here in Manitoba, but across Canada…so this collective agreement is going to work on curbing that trend and having more teachers see teaching as a profession that they want to not only get into, but stay in,” Martindale said.
Manitoba School Boards Association President Sandy Nemeth said school divisions were pleased an agreement was reached and binding arbitration was avoided.
“There is a desire now and a need to get back to work and focus on the upcoming school year, which starts very, very, very soon,” she said.
The agreement spans from 2022 to 2026 and includes a 12.25 per cent wage increase over the duration of the agreement, including retroactive pay to account for the increases.
Martindale added the pay increase should help keep teachers in rural school divisions, rather than travelling to Winnipeg or other cities for increased pay.
“We believe that a teacher who works in the Winnipeg School Division, where I used to work, should have the same salary and benefits and articles in the collective agreement that a teacher who is working in Swan River or Thompson or Beausejour,” Martindale said.
The new deal also includes increased prep time for teachers and improved options for teachers needing leave.
Manitoba’s francophone school division has a separate agreement with the Manitoba Teachers’ Society.