EDMONTON — The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA), which represents approximately 51,000 teachers across the province, has announced it will resume strike action starting today. This walkout is set to affect over 700,000 students across 2,500 public, separate, and francophone schools.
Most school boards, including those in Edmonton, Calgary, Fort McMurray, and Lethbridge, have issued notices to families confirming that classes will be temporarily suspended beginning Monday due to the teacher strike.
Contract negotiations between the provincial government and the Alberta Teachers’ Association were re-opened late last week but failed to reach a resolution. Teachers rejected the government’s offer, which included a 12% wage increase over four years, a promise from the government to hire 3,000 more teachers to address issues with student-teacher ratios, and funding to cover the cost of the COVID-19 vaccine.
ATA President Jason Schilling maintains that the province must hire at least 5,000 teachers to effectively adjust the student-teacher ratio. The continued dispute leaves the province’s education system in a state of uncertainty as the new week begins.
