Alberta teachers vote to strike after nearly 9 in 10 reject deal

Alberta teachers will walk off the job on Monday, October 6, after voting overwhelmingly to reject the provincial government’s latest contract offer.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Alberta teachers will walk off the job on Monday, October 6, after voting overwhelmingly to reject the provincial government’s latest contract offer, setting up the first provincewide teachers’ strike in more than two decades.

Alberta Teachers’ Association President Jason Schilling announced on Monday that 89.5 per cent of teachers voted against the tentative agreement, with union member turnout hitting 94 per cent.

“My colleagues have spoken. 89.5 per cent have voted to reject the memorandum of agreement. Teachers will be on strike on October 6th,” said Schilling. “Every teacher, principal, vice principal, administrator in this province will be on strike… That is going to affect probably about a million Albertans, and that is historical.”

Over 43,000 teachers cast ballots online between September 27 and 29. Schilling revealed that 38,113 of them voted against the memorandum, while only 4,479 voted in support. Some teachers abstained from voting. He added that this would be the first province-wide strike from teachers since 2002.

Schilling said teachers’ rejection reflected both dissatisfaction with the deal and long-standing tensions with the government.

“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,” he said. “Alberta spends the least per student on public education than any other province in Canada.”

The ATA said teachers have received less than a six per cent raise over the past decade, while facing larger class sizes and fewer supports. Schilling called it “deplorable” that teachers had to bargain for necessities like educational assistants.

Finance Minister Nate Horner said the government was “disappointed” with the outcome, noting this was the second failed ratification vote.

“The ATA’s rejected deal would have provided tremendous investments in classroom supports to help alleviate population growth and classroom complexity pressures with the hiring of 3,000 new teachers and over 1,500 new educational assistants,” Horner said. He added the deal included a 12 per cent wage increase over four years, with grid changes lifting more than 95 per cent of teachers’ raises up to 17 per cent.

“Alberta teachers would have been receiving the highest pay in western Canada after taxes,” Horner said.

Schilling disputed the claims, arguing that Alberta teachers would not be the highest paid in Western Canada and called the 12 per cent raise “misleading.”

Horner added that over 50,000 new students have been added to the province’s schools over the last two years.

Alberta Premier Danielle Smith previously bashed the Liberals’ “reckless” immigration policies.

Alberta’s Immigration Minister Joseph Schow similarly blasted the Liberals, stating they had “lost control of sustainable immigration in Canada.”

Alberta has grown faster than any other province in Canada over the last several years, partially due to repeatedly leading the country in interprovincial migration.

The government has pledged to announce support for families if schools close.

Smith, Horner, and Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides will be hosting a press conference to announce what those supports might look like at noon today.

More to come…