Alberta teachers take historic stand with strike

On October 6, teachers across Alberta began provincewide strike action, marking one of the largest labour actions in the province’s history.

The strike follows teachers’ overwhelming rejection of a tentative memorandum of agreement presented this September, with 89.5 per cent voting no. More than 43,000 teachers cast ballots online between September 27 and 29. With this result, teachers began strike action on October 6.

This labour action is a historical moment: the first provincewide strike action by Alberta’s public, separate and francophone school teachers. The vote signals teachers’ deep frustration with critical classroom issues and years of falling behind in compensation, said ATA president Jason Schilling.

“The proposed agreement failed to meet the needs of teachers, failed to improve student classroom conditions in a concrete and meaningful way, and failed to show teachers the respect they deserve,” said Schilling.

The outcome makes clear the wide gap between teachers’ day-to-day realities in classrooms and the government’s perception of public education in Alberta.

At the centre of the matter are classroom conditions, workload and compensation. Teachers report that their class sizes have grown and student needs have become increasingly complex, creating additional demands and pushing learning environments to a breaking point.

“When oversized classes and growing student complexities combine to create learning environments that no longer meet students’ needs and push teachers far past their limits, the government must be held accountable,” said Schilling.

The vote highlights teachers’ desire for an agreement that addresses classroom conditions and provides compensation that reflects the responsibilities of the profession.

Parents, students and the broader community are monitoring the situation closely, as the strike affects both school operations and student learning. For teachers, the action is intended to support sustainable teaching conditions and ensure students have access to the resources they need.

“This action is about maintaining learning environments where students can succeed and teachers have the support they need to provide education effectively,” said Schilling.

During an interview on October 8, Minister Demetrios Nicolaides signalled that $2.6 billion is the “bucket” the government is working with and that trade-offs would need to be made in order to reach an agreement. 

“We’re happy to work within that bucket to provide teachers with an increase [in wages] and help address some of the increasing complexity issues that we see in our classroom,” he said. “But we do have a limited bucket that we’re operating with.”

At time of press, the two parties were set to resume formal bargaining on October 14. This meeting follows a series of informal talks involving key members of both bargaining committees in an effort to find common ground and explore paths forward in bargaining. The latest updates on bargaining and the strike action are available on the ATA’s website.