‘We're in exploratory conversations with them to find an attempt to find a path forward that's not confrontational’
More than 51,000 members of The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) have gone on strike, marking the largest labour walkout ever, according to Jason Foster, a labour relations professor at Athabasca University, in a report from The Canadian Press (CP).
The labour action comes after ATA members—who teach in public, separate, and francophone schools—rejected the government’s latest offer by 89.5%.
The proposal included a 12% wage increase over four years, most teachers moving up a salary grid, and complimentary access to the $100 COVID-19 vaccine for teachers without health issues. The offer also included a commitment to fund 3,000 new teaching positions and hire 1,500 additional educational assistants by 2028.
However, ATA president Jason Schilling said these measures were insufficient.
“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, according to a news release on the group’s website.
Recently, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), which represents 170,000 workers in the province, urged the Alberta government to raise the minimum wage to $20 per hour, citing rising living costs and stagnant wages as key concerns for working Albertans.
Wanted: More teachers, higher pay
Schilling also stated that more than 5,000 new teachers are needed, in addition to supports for increased class size and complexity, and pay increases that better keep up with inflation, according to the CBC report.
He said the union and the province are still in communication: “We’re in exploratory conversations with them to find an attempt to find a path forward that’s not confrontational."
While in-person classes are suspended, CBE students will continue to have access to online learning platforms such as D2L and Google Classroom. However, teachers will not be monitoring, responding to, or assessing student work during the strike, according to CBE chief superintendent Joanne Pitman.
The provincial government is providing free K-12 curriculum toolkits in English, French, and French Immersion, and has temporarily lifted the 10-credit annual limit on non-primary distance education for grades 10 to 12. Parents and guardians of public, Catholic, or francophone school students aged 12 or younger can apply for $150 per week in financial support during the strike. Applications open on Oct. 14, with payments retroactive to Oct. 6.
Foster said the last teachers’ strike was in 2002 and involved 21,000, according to the CP report posted in Peak. The current action affects more than 740,000 students across 2,500 public, separate, and francophone schools.
Lockout notice
Meanwhile, the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) also issued a lockout notice for teachers, commencing Oct. 9, 2025.
“The lockout will provide predictability and stability for students," said TEBA.
“If the ATA has no intention of doing the same, then the lockout does not impact their current strike actions of removing teachers from all classrooms across the province. TEBA remains dedicated to reaching a collective agreement and expects that the ATA will continue to bargain in good faith to reach a fair deal for teachers, school boards and our kids."
The government’s lockout "was expected, as it’s a response to teachers going on strike," Schilling said. "The Alberta Teachers’ Association and government officials remain in talks."
School support staff, including bus drivers, custodians, and educational assistants, are expected to remain at work, according to CBC. Bus drivers will continue working, with much of their time devoted to training.
“If we just lay the drivers off, it’s really hard to get them all to come back because you can look for other employment,” said Les Cross, president of Southland’s parent company Pacific Western Transportation, according to the report.
In late 2024—when negotiations between the employer and the workers stalled—Canada Post employees went on strike that lasted nearly a month before the Canada Industrial Relations Board (CIRB) ordered that they go back to work.
File photo from The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA)'s Facebook page
