New Brunswick teachers will soon vote on a new tentative collective agreement, but the details remain unknown.
On Friday, officials announced a tentative agreement between the province and the New Brunswick Teachers’ Federation (NBTF).
It comes more than two years after the teachers’ last collective agreement expired in February of 2021.
“It’s been a lot of hard work, but in the end, we’re pleased that our board of directors voted on a tentative agreement,” NBTF co-president Connie Keating said in an interview on Friday.
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NBTF issued a 100-day strike countdown on May 20, saying a strike vote would be held if a tentative agreement was not reached before Aug. 28.
Keating said the conciliation process, which began in June, was the “springboard” to reaching a tentative deal.
“Some things were cleared up [during the conciliation process], but some of the major things still remained, so we headed to the conciliation board phase toward the end of June,” she said.
“After we had the opportunity to look at it in more detail, as well as further conversation between the two parties, we landed on a proposal that we presented to our board of directors.”
The conciliation board report, released earlier in July, recommended that teachers receive a 15 per cent wage increase over five years.
RELATED: Conciliators recommend 15% wage increase for teachers
That included a two per cent increase for each of the first two years, followed by three per cent in the third year and four per cent in years four and five.
The agreement would be retroactive to March 1, 2021, which was when the most recent collective agreement expired.
Keating would not say on Friday how the tentative agreement compares to what was in the conciliation board report.
“What we would have discussed today and what the proposal is is currently embargoed until our membership has a chance to review it and ask their own questions,” she said.
The NBTF co-president said that will happen when teachers come back to the classroom in late August and early September.
Keating expects a ratification vote will happen in early September, with the results being made available a few days later.
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