Teachers pledge to fight Bill 2
On Monday, Alberta’s teachers and school leaders were ordered back to work and stripped of their charter rights when the Government of Alberta invoked the notwithstanding clause. Teachers are devastated that this government has chosen to take away their most fundamental freedoms rather than negotiate in good faith.
“Teachers are being forced back and saddled with the very collective agreement that 90 per cent of them rejected only a month ago—an agreement that they said, loudly and clearly, does not meet the needs of their students, their classrooms or their profession.”
—ATA president Jason Schilling
By invoking the notwithstanding clause, this government has done more than silence teachers and school leaders; it has silenced democracy itself.
“Teachers will comply with the law, but make no mistake—compliance is not consent. The Association will fight this abuse of power with every tool the law provides and every ounce of conviction we possess.”
—ATA president Jason Schilling
The government has ended the strike, but it has not ended the crisis in classrooms across the province. On Wednesday, the same overcrowded classrooms, lack of supports and underfunding will still be waiting for teachers and students.
President Jason Schilling spoke to the media in response to the Back to School Act, Bill 2.