Daniel MacIsaac
Northern News Services

NNSL (Jun 09/99) - The NWT Teachers' Association is requesting an end to bargaining and asking for mediation in contract talks with the government.

But Sylvia Haener, director of labour relations and compensation for the GNWT, said the direction of talks with the teachers should not be viewed in a negative light.

"We're not viewing it as a major setback," she said. "We were just getting into the monetary issues, and from the government's point of view thought there was more room for negotiations, but the option for mediation is open to them under the current contract...there's no bad feelings."

Haener said that while a mediator may be named before the school year ends later this month, she suspects actual mediation won't begin until September.

"We like to have full bargaining teams when we're there," she said, "and theirs is comprised of teachers who may be away for the summer."

Haener -- who is on the nine-member government team -- said the current contract expires Aug. 31 but that its terms will remain in effect until a new agreement is reached.

The contract affects some 430 teachers across the territory who do not belong to either of Yellowknife's two school boards.

Yellowknife's Catholic teachers recently ratified a deal of their own that included pay raises and the restoration of their pay scale -- a bargaining success that reflects the current high demand for teachers in the territory. Haener said the current negotiations are also affected by the teacher shortage.

"There is money on the table," she said. "We ended our discussions with the monetary package -- the government is certainly not proposing any cuts."

Association President Pat Thomas said the amounts of money discussed simply aren't enough.

"We did get some money on the table but it would be insignificant compared to the travel, expenses and benefits that we lost," Thomas said.

She confirmed the teachers' good working relationship with the government, but said those same teachers are making demands the government's bargaining team hasn't appeared ready to meet.

"We got clear direction from our members as to what they wanted -- to recover some of the lost benefits -- and we couldn't do that at this table," she said. "They wanted us to improve working conditions like class size and the harassment policy."

Thomas said even though a mediator's arbitration is not binding, she hopes it will nevertheless help highlight the difficulties teachers face in the territory.

"Our teachers honestly can't continue with the wage and benefit packages they have now," she said. "There is a limit, and we have to stop somewhere."