Tentative Agreement Reached with NLTA

The Honourable Jerome Kennedy, President of Treasury Board and Minister of Finance, announced today that the Provincial Government has reached a tentative agreement with the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers� Association (NLTA).

�Our government recognizes the valuable contribution that all of our public employees make to our province, including our teachers,� said Minister Kennedy. �Our province�s teachers carry out their duties with enthusiasm and with the utmost degree of professionalism, which benefits the people and communities of Newfoundland and Labrador. On behalf of Premier Williams and the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador, I am pleased that we have reached a tentative agreement with our province�s teachers that recognizes the important role they play, and I would like to thank NLTA president Sean Noah and the NLTA negotiating teams for their professionalism throughout the bargaining process.�

The Provincial Government reached an agreement with the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) earlier this year and announced an agreement with the Association of Allied Health Professionals and CUPE Group Homes on December 12, 2008. The tentative agreement reached with the NLTA represents the fourth such agreement with public sector employees, and wage increases of 8-4-4-4 per cent in each of the following four years, or 21.5 per cent compounded over four years.

Founded in 1890, the Newfoundland and Labrador Teachers' Association is a professional organization serving approximately 6,400 teachers in Newfoundland and Labrador.

�We estimate that a 20 per cent increase for all of our public employees will cost in excess of $500 million at the end of a four-year contract, bringing the total salary expenditure by the province for public employees to approximately $2.5 billion,� said Minister Kennedy. �I am pleased that the NLTA has tentatively accepted our offer, which will result in a significant wage increase for our province�s teachers while ensuring that the deal is in the best long term interests of Newfoundlanders and Labradorians.�

Minister Kennedy will be available to the media outside the House of Assembly at 1:00 p.m. today.

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Media contact:
Tansy Mundon
Director of Communications
Department of Finance
709-729-6830, 685-2646
tansymundon@gov.nl.ca