Teachers will walk off the job October 6 unless they can come to contract terms with the provincial government.

On Wedensday, September 10, Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) president Jason Schilling said 51,000 full and part-time teachers will take strike action if a deal isn’t reached between the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) and the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA).

“Teachers are taking a stand because they’ve had enough,” Schilling said. “Their patience has run out.”

The ATA is asking for higher wages to keep up with inflation, and what Schilling called “a fair deal that shows a real commitment to teachers and public education.” The ATA has received just a 5.75 percent pay increase in the last decade, Schilling said. 

Meanwhile Alberta’s consumer price index, a measure of inflation, rose roughly 17 per cent in that time, Statistics Canada data shows.

“A fair wage is not just about money, it’s about respect,” Schilling said, noting increased workloads and overflowing classrooms.

“Half of new teachers leave within the first five years of entering the education system,” Schilling said. “That is unsustainable.”

The ATA’s previous collective agreement ran from September 2020 through August 2024.

Alberta ranks last in education spending per capita, according to the ATA.

Following the ATA presser, Provincial Treasury Board and Minister of Finance Nate Horner issued a statement saying he is pleased the ATA will return to the bargaining table but said he was disappointed that the ATA is using the potential disruption of the school year as leverage in its pursuit of additional compensation. 

“Announcing a strike commencing October 6 before the parties have resumed negotiations only serves to increase stress among Alberta’s students and families,” Horner said.

Schilling said parents should be challenging their elected officials about why the Alberta government contiunes to undervalue education. 

“Alberta teachers have taken this strong stance because they care that underfunding education is harming students,” Schilling said.

Negotiations between the Alberta government and teachers’ union broke down late last month. The government said they had given the teachers what they asked for in June: 1,000 new hires every year for three years and a 12 percent wage increase.

“Three thousand more teachers would certainly have a significant impact in alleviating classroom pressures and improve the education landscape for teachers and students,” Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides said on August 29.

But the ATA said other elements such as classroom conditions, working conditions, classroom sizes and classroom complexity were not addressed. And some teachers say that hiring 1,000 teachers per year isn’t a realistic benchmark.

“They won’t be able to hire these teachers because no one will want to teach in Alberta with the current state of education. And they’ll have to attempt to hire even more because so many of us are leaving the profession due to lack of supports,” said Amanda Orr, a grade two teacher in Holy Spirit School Division (Lethbridge).

Jasper’s outgoing Grande Yellowhead Public School Division trustee, Dale Karpluk, said she has high hopes the teachers and province can come to an agreement.

“Personally I think teachers are worth their weight in gold,” Karpluk said. “Fingers crossed they’re back at the table soon.”

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com