A Few Moments of Your Time

Hi, just 3 quick but VERY important items.

Email Updates

Moving forward, the Local will be using this account to communicate with you about important information. This isn’t a change as we have used it before. BUT, your Council of School Representative will no longer need to gather your personal email address and submit them. Rather, we ask that teacher’s sign up on their own and if they no longer work in Red Deer Catholic, use the unsubscribe link at the bottom of each of these emails to remove themselves.

Teachers not currently signed up may be provided with this email and use the button below (just forward this to them) OR look for the bright blue poster hanging in your workroom that has a QR code that will take them to the form. Your assistance in encouraging our colleagues to ensure they are signed up is appreciated.

Important Education Election Incoming

From March 13-16 teachers across Alberta will be able to cast their vote to pick the next ATA President (1), Vice Presidents (2), and District Representatives (1).

This year there is competition in all 3 of the above positions!

Considering the most recent central agreement and current state of education I can’t emphasize enough the importance for us here in Red Deer Catholic to be engaged and vote come March 13-16. The future of the Association and public education are on the ballot.

Note: I (Brice Unland) am running for District Representative of Central South (that includes us, Red Deer Public, Wolf Creek, Chinook’s Edge, and Clearview). This position is also contested. As the campaign begins (officially today), I will be looking to you for your support. Until the completion of the election, Sara Lambert, our Local Vice President, will be in charge of general election items. Further communication from me about the election will not come from the Local and should be viewed as personal communication from me.

The Local is working to set up a forum for the candidates running for District Representative at our next CSR meeting. All teachers are invited to attend in person (at Notre Dame) or via Zoom on February 8 at 5:30pm. More information will follow closer to that time.

The Association is also working on a public forum for those running to be President and Vice Presidents.

To vote for any and all of these positions you will need to have an active login at www.teachers.ab.ca . If you voted on the Memorandum last spring, then you have one. If you didn’t vote, shame, shame, shame, and you can get one at www.teachers.ab.ca

Local Bargaining

Now that the Memorandum of Agreement was voted on (and accepted) that concludes “central table bargaining”, meaning that as a Local / Division we now move to local bargaining. A key component of this process is for teachers to provide the Negotiating Sub Committee (the people who do the bargaining) with marching orders of what they would like to see improvements in. This is done via a survey that is open to all teachers of Local 80. You can find the survey using the button below. The survey is now open and will close on January 31. The information collected in that survey will guide the Negotiating Sub Committee in their creation of an opening proposal. Please take a few minutes to complete it.

Bargaining Survey

Previous News

Sent June 24, 2022 via MailChimp

Sweet Sweet Summer

Just days from now, the 2021-22 school year will come to a close.

This was a long year.

I thought about writing what the next school year brings, what as an Association we will be doing over summer, and what as a profession we need to grapple with.

It's all a lot.

You deserve a break. Probably, you need a break. So, I will save all that for our return.

Just before I wish you well, do note that I have included the email (which includes a handy Q&A) from the Association concerning the Teachers' Registry the government is setting up. Unless you have reasons to be exempt from the registry, there is nothing you need to do.

Colleagues, I wish you the most relaxing of breaks.

Brice Unland

With only days remaining in the school year, Alberta Education issued important and urgent directives to teachers and school authorities to enable them to launch a public teachers' registry by September.

As usual with this government, its failure to effectively collaborate on the implementation of this initiative or to provide sufficient time for proper communication is creating much concern among teachers. The Association has created a Q&A intended to relieve some of those teacher concerns but also to highlight potential issues going forward.

The government has established a process that will allow teachers to apply for an exemption that would preclude their information from being included in the public facing online registry, but only in a few specific situations and only if teachers submit a significant amount of personal and sensitive information within very short timelines. In order to stand any chance of being considered and acted upon before the registry goes live on September 1, 2022, the initial application for an exemption must be posted to TWINS before July 29, 2022.

The Association is very concerned that the government’s demand for information in support of an exemption application is intrusive, over-reaching and potentially traumatizing for vulnerable teachers. Furthermore, the requirement that all this information and documentation be submitted within 15 days of making the application is unrealistic.

We have already filed a letter with the Office of the Information and Privacy Commissioner urgently requesting that the implementation of the registry be reviewed as potentially violating sections of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. See the letter of complaint to the privacy commissioner here.

Association legal counsel have been apprised of these developments and will provide advice that will inform the Association’s next steps.