Provincial regulations and budget deficits are looming over contract bargaining between Foothills School Division (FSD) and the Foothills School Division Bus Drivers Association.
According to lead negotiator Mark Wellington, the association's demand for increased wages stems from the "precious cargo" that bus drivers transport.
"We're carrying Alberta's future, the children of parents in this province, and we're paid as if we were carrying garbage," he said. "We're pretty much paid the same as a courier, or less.
"And, of course, if the courier gets into an accident, it's, 'Well, oops, we dented a box'... If a school bus is in an accident and children are injured, it's not local, it's not regional, it's not provincial, it's national news.
"The level of responsibility school bus drivers have is pretty clear, but the pay doesn't reflect that at all."
According to the association, bus drivers have received three wage increases totalling 3.75 per cent since 2015.
The association stated that, adjusted for the annual average rate of inflation from 2015 to 2023, FSD school bus drivers are now making approximately $4 less in "real dollars" than they were in 2015.
"The wage increases that were being provided, or the lack thereof, were basically leaving these drivers paid less each year in real dollars," said Wellington.
In a statement issued by FSD on Nov. 22, the school division acknowledged its own financial constraints.
"FSD agrees that funding received for education does not reflect the cost of inflation that greatly impacts transportation services (fuel, insurance, parts and carbon tax), which is reflected in the past few years’ operating deficits," stated the school division.
The FSD budget for 2024-25 indicates a deficit of $531,836.
According to Wellington, the school division had proposed an incremental wage increase of 7.5 per cent for the 2024-2027 contract, which was unanimously rejected by the employee association membership.
It matches the Government of Alberta's proposal of a four-year 7.5 per cent increase for provincial employees.
The employee association responded with a proposed one-time hourly wage bump of approximately $4 followed by an additional increase of two per cent at the start of 2025, all encompassed in a two-year contract instead of a four-year one. The proposal was not accepted by the school division.
"Current compensation and associated cost-of-living increases are within the parameters set out by the Province," FSD stated.
According to the school division's statement, the ongoing negotiations are subject to regulations and directives laid out by the Provincial Bargaining and Compensation Office, not the school division. As a result, the school division's hands are tied regarding matters such as significant wage increases and contract length.
"Negotiations with us are stalemated," said Wellington on provincial guidelines guiding the bargaining.
"Collective bargaining is a bit of a joke now," said Wellington. "There's a secret mandate."
The "secret mandate" refers to provisions in the Public Sector Employers Act, passed by the Government of Alberta in 2019, which permit the provincial finance minister to issue confidential directives to employers, including when it comes to bargaining.
"The public doesn't know how much is being offered to school boards [or] any other group that's public," he continued. "So we have no idea what's available, but we get told 'this is all we can give you,' and that's what we're getting from FSD."
According to Wellington, employee association representatives directly raised these concerns with Premier Danielle Smith during her Okotoks UCP town hall in September and Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi, and are awaiting responses from both.
Wellington acknowledged that members receive a very good benefits package but maintained those benefits do not make up for what the association is seeking when it comes to wages.
"It's been used as a bit of a hammer year after year, that 'you don't deserve more because you've got great benefits,'" he said.
The association is not a union, so members do not have the financial means to strike, limiting their options in the bargaining process.
"They simply could not afford the cost of unionizing," said Wellington.
According to the association, a survey of its members found that 40 per cent of drivers are the sole income provider in their family, 44 per cent have children to support, 40 per cent have more than one job, and 56 per cent experience occasional or regular food insecurity.
Negotiations were initiated in May ahead of the 2019-2024 contract's expiration on Aug. 31. Three meetings have been held so far.
"Foothills School Division is committed to reaching an agreement that recognizes [bus drivers'] essential role within our division while adhering to the regulatory and budgetary frameworks in place," stated the school division.
FSD operates schools in Foothills County, Okotoks, Diamond Valley, High River and surrounding area.
