Alberta asks teachers to return to school Monday; union rejects proposal, calling it ‘biased’  

The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) says the province has asked teachers to return to class next week, accusing the government of attempting to bully educators back to the classroom.

In a press conference Friday morning, union president Jason Schilling said the Government of Alberta sent a letter to the ATA on Thursday, asking teachers to return to school on Monday.

He explains the offer was made to move to “enhanced mediation” as a way to come to a settlement, but the union is rejecting that premise.

“The letter included a statement that student-teacher ratios could not be included as part of the mediation process, and this limitation undermines any attempt at resolution,” Schilling said. “TEBA (Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association) has declined to respond to the association’s latest tabled position, choosing instead to propose a process that is biased and designed to return an outcome entirely favourable to the government and school boards, not to students or teachers.”

The ATA says it wants the government to acknowledge the realities that are driving the dispute, such as classroom size caps and classroom complexities, and Schilling says it won’t back down without solutions to those issues.

“We’re ready today, tomorrow, and every day that follows to negotiate the real issues at the heart of this dispute,” Schilling said. “We’re ready to discuss solutions that will make classrooms manageable, improve supports for students with complex needs, and ensure that teachers can teach and students can learn.”

Premier Danielle Smith expressed her disappointment in the union, saying they haven’t received a realistic or fair proposal that would work for students, teachers, and tax payers. She says it all comes down to dollars.

“The ATA’s latest offer would have cost taxpayers an additional $2 billion, on top of the $2.6 billion that we’ve already committed,” she says. “Our province has faced a $6.5 billion budget deficit this year and we must continue to be responsible stewards of taxpayer dollars.”

Schilling says teachers are going to stay off the job, for now.

At this time, an official back-to-work order has not been issued, but Smith says the move is not off the table.

“After about three weeks, a strike of this nature would reach the threshold of causing irreparable harm to our students education,” says Smith. “The ATA needs to do this for its members and for all students.”

“If it refuses to do so, we will consider other options to bring this strike to an end.”