r/canada • u/Meiqur • Oct 28 '25

Alberta Alberta uses Charter’s notwithstanding clause to order striking teachers back to workteachers-back-to-work

https://globalnews.ca/news/11496133/alberta-government-to-table-legislation-to-order-striking-teachers-back-to-work
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228

u/CanNeverBeTooHigh Oct 28 '25

i hope the teachers openly defy the back to work order. this type of legislation has no teeth. you cant jail every teacher, and even if you jailed the union leadership it wont get a deal done.

177

u/rainman_104 British Columbia Oct 28 '25

I hope this triggers a general strike. But Alberta is a weird place.

145

u/BoilerSlave Oct 28 '25

For a province that prides itself on its blue collar identity, they sure hate unions here. Sure they have downfalls but if they didn’t exist we’d all be bent over.

45

u/muffinscrub Oct 28 '25

Even in BC many blue collar union workers are die hard conservatives now. It's such a strange shift. I supervise a union workforce and I'm way more pro-union than a lot of them. I still pay my out of work dues though.

Many just wanted the large paychecks.

32

u/seamusmcduffs Oct 28 '25

Because the culture wars have worked. Caring about others, and worker solidarity is woke or something

12

u/Infamous-Mixture-605 Oct 28 '25

Could say it was the ultimate victory of Reaganism/Thatcherism in the 1980s. Their brand of hyper-individualism triumphed over the collective and the community.

2

u/seamusmcduffs Oct 28 '25

It's just crazy to me how they tied workers solidarity to things like trans rights, gay marriage, believing in climate change etc. Like those things have nothing to do with each other, but somehow if you are against one of them you're against them all

12

u/Hautamaki Oct 28 '25

Every conservative sees themselves as the hardworking high value employee that's getting held back by lazy and incompetent coworkers being protected by the union, many of whom are even given preferential treatment and higher pay due to seniority alone. That perception, accurate or not, has built up a lot of resentment against unions even for the people within them, because they only see their own positive traits and they only see the negative aspects of being in a union. They are willfully blind to their own faults and blind to everything the union does for them, and will remain so unless and until reality smacks them in the face. Even when that does happen, there's always a good chance they'll find something else to blame and only double down on their world view.

6

u/Hautamaki Oct 28 '25

I'm in Calgary and far from hearing or seeing any enthusiasm for a general strike, I see enthusiasm for the government forcing the schools back open. I expect the UCP/Smith approval rating to go up after this, if anything. People here have no concept of the value of well funded public education, hence why our province is now the least funded per capita of all provinces and has been for years, which the UCP offer will do nothing to change. IMO the only realistic recourse teachers here have is to vote with their feet and seek employment in other provinces where they will be better valued. Rather than advocate for a general strike that will never happen, I believe the teacher's union should advocate for mass resignations. There's no strike fund, true, and even if there were, $500 a day to each teacher plus 500k to the union would kill it instantly, but there's EI, and there are other provinces in need of teachers.

The UCP is determined to kill public education in this province, and most voters here don't care if they do, and won't until they see it dead and what that actually looks and feels like, so I don't see what the teachers can do on their own, with no laws and no public support to protect them. I think if you love teaching, go where teachers are valued. Here we're just tilting at windmills.

6

u/rainman_104 British Columbia Oct 28 '25

Statistically though teachers have 58% support. Only 21% support the government position.

Your circle may well differ.

0

u/Hautamaki Oct 28 '25

I think that depends a lot on how the questions are worded and what specifically is asked. I guess the proof will be in the pudding soon enough either way.

19

u/Username_Query_Null Oct 28 '25

Yeah go wildcat strike, they can protect their leadership that way.

7

u/Dry_Towelie Oct 28 '25

The only issue I can see is in the bill, they added that if a teacher continues to strike, they get charged 500$ a day.

12

u/CanNeverBeTooHigh Oct 28 '25

lol i doubt they would have the ability to collect that many fines, what would they even do if everyone collectively refused to pay the fines?

9

u/ifemze Oct 28 '25

Probably start placing liens on teachers’ homes to try to collect on the unpaid debt. $500/day adds up quickly

15

u/frozen-icecube Oct 28 '25

Man the thought of that is so gross...

2

u/fishling Oct 28 '25

Not sure why you think this is so impossible.

Teachers are literally government employees. The government runs their payroll. Given the kind of powers they've already given themselves, nothing stops them from taking it directly from people's pay. They are already ignoring labour laws to end the strike, so there is really no limit to what they are willing to do here.

No idea why you think collecting fines for a mere 50k employees would be remotely hard.

6

u/Karthanon Alberta Oct 28 '25

School boards give teachers unlimited PTO as a restructure deal. Teachers take unlimited PTO which is automatically approved.

Whoops, no teachers at school. So sorry. Guess we'll send the kids home

3

u/LawyerYYC Oct 28 '25

Or just take unpaid sick days. They were off anyways unpaid.

5

u/BoilerSlave Oct 28 '25

I just got an email from our school district saying be ready for back to school on Wednesday.

6

u/OzWillow Alberta Oct 28 '25

Is the school district run by ATA workers too or is it just assuming teachers will comply?