After a prolonged disagreement over a contract, 51,000 members of the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) initiated a strike on Monday morning. The strike is expected to impact over 730,000 students in the province, with more than 142,000 belonging to the Calgary Board of Education (CBE).
The ATA members, who work in various types of schools in Alberta, decisively turned down an offer that included a 12% wage increase over four years, moving most teachers to higher pay levels, and providing free access to the $100 COVID-19 vaccine for teachers without health complications. This offer, rejected by 89.5% of voting ATA members, also promised to create 3,000 additional teaching positions. However, the ATA believes this falls short of the needed 5,000 new teachers, along with the necessary support for larger class sizes, complexity, and salary adjustments to match inflation.
Despite the rejection, the deal also committed to hiring 1,500 more educational assistants by 2028, a pledge that the province still intends to fulfill. President Jason Schilling mentioned ongoing discussions with the government to find a mutually agreeable resolution.
During the strike, students will have access to online learning resources, including platforms like D2L and Google Classroom provided by the CBE. These tools will be available for learning purposes, although teachers will not be actively engaging with or evaluating student work.
Families with children aged 12 or under attending public, Catholic, or French schools can apply for a $150 weekly support payment from the province during the strike. Additionally, the government is offering enhanced subsidies for licensed full-time childcare for children in grades one through six, up to $644 for the entire month of October.
While teachers are on strike, support staff like bus drivers, custodians, and educational assistants are expected to continue working. Transportation companies, Southland and First Student, confirmed that their bus drivers will remain on the job, focusing on training and other duties.
Educational assistants and support workers at CBE and the Calgary Catholic School District will continue their work, as will other maintenance staff. The decision on retaining support staff during the strike lies with the school boards. Previous strikes by educational support staff and maintenance workers were resolved through agreements earlier this year.
The last province-wide teacher strike in Alberta dates back to 2002, when then-Premier Ralph Klein intervened after nearly three weeks of job action, ordering over 20,000 striking teachers back to work.