Open Letter to Premier Danielle Smith: Standing Up for Teachers and Collective Bargaining in Alberta

EDMONTON—CLAC urges Premier Danielle Smith and the Alberta government to reconsider the use of the notwithstanding clause in the recently passed Back to School Act (Bill 2). While recognizing the importance of labour stability and student learning, we argue that suspending teachers’ right to strike and imposing unilateral contract terms undermines the principles of free and fair collective bargaining. CLAC calls on the government to return to the negotiating table, engage in good-faith dialogue with the Alberta Teachers’ Association, and pursue solutions that uphold both the rights of workers and the quality of education for Alberta’s students.

Dear Premier Smith:

Earlier this week, your government passed the Back to School Act (Bill 2), in response to the ongoing strike involving the 51,000 teachers represented by the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA). While there is no denying the need for labour stability and ensuring that students’ education is not further compromised, we believe that the use of the notwithstanding clause was an overreaction to a labour dispute that could be solved through a different approach.

We believe that the use of the notwithstanding clause unnecessarily takes away the right of workers to use the strike mechanism and imposes obscene fines for contravening job action. Furthermore, we are troubled by the fact that the bill imposes four years of unilaterally determined terms and conditions on these workers.

In our experience, Canadians have a generally positive view of the right to unionize, as well as the labour and employment laws that enshrine the right of workers to collectively bargain in a peaceful forum for fair and just working standards. Although we realize that there are very different views on how and when the right to strike should be invoked, it’s generally accepted that the right to impose economic sanctions on an employer is what establishes a balance of power in our system of collective bargaining. Failing that, mechanisms such as mediation and binding arbitration are other levers that could have been pulled to ultimately uphold the collective rights of unionized teachers while also preserving and enhancing student success. The use of the notwithstanding clause is an unnecessary and unhelpful instrument.

We strongly believe that students and working families should not be pawns in a bargaining disagreement, and neither should the 51,000 teachers whose wages have eroded during the last several years in the face of generational inflation. To that end, our union urges the government to take the necessary steps to get back to the bargaining table to work out a fair, reasonable and equitable outcome for these teachers that are educating the next generations of Albertans.

Sincerely yours, 

Dennis Perrin

Alberta Director 

cc. Minster of Education, Hon. Demetrios Nicholaides Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration, Hon. Joseph Schow

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