I Stand With Alberta Teachers
An attack on education is an attack on children
Introduction
On October 6, 2025, approximately 51,000 Albertan teachers began a strike that would affect more than 730,000 students across the province. Organized by the Alberta Teacher's Association (ATA), the strike resulted from more than a year's worth of negotiations with the Government of Alberta. Priorities of the ATA include improved working conditions, wage increases, class size reductions, and an increase in public education funding. As of October 27, no agreement has been reached.
Discussions of a strike have been ongoing among the Alberta Teacher's Association since their labour contract expired in August 2024. In June 2025, ninety five percent of teachers voted in favour of striking. Though there have been labour actions by public school divisions in the past, this is the first strike in Alberta's history to involve public, Catholic, and Francophone schools.
Underfunding is a huge issue. Education funding in Alberta is just $13,494 per student: the lowest rate in the country. In 2024, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development conducted a study of data from educators in over fifty countries. This study confirmed that, only do teachers in Alberta work one of the longest work weeks, they also experience stress levels more than double the global average. With no class size limits, teachers are faced with classrooms of up to fifty students, leaving kids neglected and educators with a lack of resources.
Lack of Government Action
The provincial government doesn't care about teachers' rights. In fact, they're more concerned with exploiting workers and attempting to turn the province into a miniature America. During supposed negotiations with the Teachers' Association, the United Conservative Party made offers such as free COVID vaccinations and three thousand more teachers hired across the province. They claim there is no money to put toward educational funding, while designing new provincial license plates and offering parents $150 per week for each of their children.
In 2018, Alberta premier Danielle Smith spoke about dismantling public education: claiming that union-controlled public schools indoctrinated children instead of educating them. Of course, in the mind of a fascist, indoctrination could be anything from Black history to LGBT rights.
So what's her plan? To dismantle public education altogether.
Education is not a privilege. It's a right. Children are entitled to government-funded public education, and educators are entitled to fair working conditions and compensation. Last week, after a second round of 'negotiations' between the government and the Teachers' Association, Smith asked educators to call off the strike - refusing to listen to what they actually want. She has said that this week, after nearly a month of striking, the United Conservatives will introduce legislation to force teachers back to work, insisting that offers made by her party have been more than generous.
They haven't. Smith and the UCP refuse to listen. Instead, they rely on control and manipulation tactics to get their way: even when it means trampling on the rights of citizens.
The Notwithstanding Clause
In 2015, the right to strike became federally protected under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Supreme Court recognizes the right to strike as an indispensable component of bargaining; therefore, despite Smith's complaints, educators in Alberta are free to strike as long as necessary.
Not if Smith has anything to say about it, of course.
Section 33 of the Charter is known as the notwithstanding clause. It allows a federal or provincial government to temporarily overrule certain sections of the Charter: such as fundamental freedoms and legal rights. Upon its introduction, the clause was intended to be a compromise: a way of allowing legislatures to pass bills that would otherwise be in conflict with Charter rights. However, Danielle Smith has threatened the use of the Notwithstanding Clause upon the refusal of educators to return to work.
What does this mean?
The use of the Notwithstanding Clause in the case of a labour strike is a violation of federally protected human rights. In response to threat and lack of government action, at least thirty unions across the province have vowed to stand with educators and walk out of their jobs. Invoking the clause as a response to labour action is unprecedented and cowardly - the catalyst for a province-wide revolt. It confirms the government's apathy towards union workers and their right to appropriate working conditions.
As a parent, I stand with teachers. There's an uncertainty surrounding the future of Alberta's education, and the response of the Teachers' Association to the upcoming back to work legislation. Perhaps the actions of Danielle Smith will encourage provincial resistance. Perhaps her ego will be her own downfall in the end. And maybe, once again, the cowardice of a fascist will force union members back to the work places that never cared about them to begin with.
Sources & Further Reading
https://www.stoptheexcuses.ca/
https://www.policyalternatives.ca/news-research/historic-alberta-teachers-strike-whats-at-stake/
https://www.constitutionalstudies.ca/2019/07/notwithstanding-clause-2/?print=print
https://jacobin.com/2025/10/alberta-teachers-strike-wages-classrooms
https://www.justice.gc.ca/eng/csj-sjc/rfc-dlc/ccrf-ccdl/check/art33.html
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/local-news/alberta-class-sizes-ata-strike
https://www.fraserinstitute.org/studies/education-spending-in-public-schools-in-canada-2025
https://globalnews.ca/news/4067888/danielle-smith-maybe-we-need-to-defund-public-schools/
https://edmontonjournal.com/news/alberta-unions-danielle-smith-teachers-notwithstanding-clause
About the Creator
choreomania
i'm a queer, transmasc writer, poet, cat lover, and author. i'm passionate about psychology, human rights, and creating places where lgbt+ youth and young adults feel safe, represented, and supported.
30 | m.
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