A potential teachers’ strike in Alberta is not out of the question as students prepare to return to the classroom.
Alberta’s teachers and the provincial government remain deadlocked after two days of central bargaining ended without a deal this week.
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On Aug. 28, the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) said its Central Table Bargaining Committee (CTBC) and the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) “have reached an impasse.”
“The government did not provide TEBA the enhanced mandate required for movement on the proposed salary,” said the ATA. “Teachers cannot accept a salary offer that does not attract and retain Alberta teachers by catching up and keeping up with inflation.”
In June, the ATA put forward a proposal that included retroactive pay for 2024–25, a unified salary grid starting September 2025 and an extra 1.5 per cent at the top of the grid. It also called for hiring 1,000 teachers each year for three years.
The union said TEBA “essentially agreed to the teacher hiring proposal” this week, but “remained immovable from the salary recommended in the mediator’s report.”
The aforementioned report called for three per cent raises per year over four years and a unified salary grid. CTBC rejected the counteroffer.
“Teachers were clear during the MIMs (member information meetings) about needing greater compensation,” said the ATA.
Government reaction
The government fired back Thursday. President of Treasury Board and Finance Minister Nate Horner and Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides issued a joint statement criticizing the ATA for “break(ing) off negotiations with so much at stake.”
“They have been offered what they asked for. They have been offered what they said was needed,” the ministers said.
The government said TEBA’s Aug. 26 offer included hiring 1,000 teachers each year for three years at a cost of $750 million. It also said the package contained “a 12 per cent salary increase over four years” plus further raises for 95 per cent of teachers, especially newer staff.
“On Aug. 27, the ATA’s bargaining team rejected this offer,” the statement said.
“We cannot sit idle while the public, parents and students are manipulated into supporting a union that has shown its primary interest is in diverting supports away from the classroom to further drive up teacher compensation.”
Parents and students will remain caught in the middle until a deal is made.
School starts in Alberta next week. The ATA holds a strike mandate until Oct. 7 and both sides say they remain open to talks.
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