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The price of oil could fluctuate. All we need to do is have a war. – ATA president

“If we are silent, the families that we serve, and the children that we serve in this province, are going to continue to suffer,” Ramsankar said.

The teachers’ association is poised to begin bargaining next month using a new process that will see teachers vote separately on both provincial and local agreements. It was a change teachers favoured and the Alberta School Boards Association resisted. The new system will see big-ticket issues such as pay and benefits negotiated directly with government at a provincial table, and local issues hammered out with each school board.

Previously, the government had an informal and voluntary role in negotiating large financial issues such as salaries.

The Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Authority, which will consist of eight government representatives and six school board trustees, will soon meet with the teachers’ association to decide what issues belong at each table, Ramsankar said.

In response to a teacher’s statement Thursday that he and his colleagues are not going to get a raise in the next contract, Ramsankar cautioned against that assumption. It’s too early in negotiations to tell, he said. Anything could happen in 2016.

“The price of oil could fluctuate. All we need to do is have a war.”

In an email statement, Education Minister David Eggen said he was “not going to speculate on a potential salary increase” for teachers before negotiations begin.

“Teachers are pillars of our community and we value greatly the role they play in shaping the next generation of Alberta leaders,” Eggen’s statement said.