Teachers and supporters take part in a rally on World Teachers' Day in Edmonton, on Oct. 5.JASON FRANSON/The Canadian Press
The Alberta government is expected to introduce back-to-work legislation on Monday to force striking teachers to return to classrooms after three weeks, raising fears among labour advocates that the province will invoke the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to override workers’ rights.
More than 750,000 students have been out of class since Oct. 6, after negotiations between the Alberta Teachers’ Association and the province broke down.
The union is demanding that limits on class size and classroom complexity – arising from factors such as behavioural, cognitive or social and emotional issues – be written directly into its collective agreement, a proposal the government has rejected.
“We’re at a point now where if they don’t voluntarily agree with us to return to work and do that kind of mediation work, we’re just going to have to have them back,” Alberta Premier Danielle Smith said on her weekly call-in radio show on Saturday.
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Ms. Smith said her government recently invited the ATA to participate in enhanced mediation, a process in which a neutral mediator proposes non-binding terms for settlement, but the union declined.
“The ATA remains committed to reaching an agreement through the collective bargaining process, which must include productive dialogue about addressing class size and complexity,” the organization said in a Friday statement.
Ms. Smith has argued that class-size issues are better addressed through a post-strike commission that can study the education system in depth, rather than at the bargaining table. About 90 per cent of teachers rejected the government’s previous offer, which included a 12-per-cent raise over four years and a commitment to hire 3,000 more teachers.
Christian Cook, a human resources professor at Mount Royal University, said teachers could be back in classrooms as early as mid-week if the government introduces Bill 2, known as the Back to School Act, on Monday. An order paper for the bill was announced on the legislature’s website late last week.
“They’re planning for this expedited process,” said Prof. Cook, who specializes in labour and employee relations. With the United Conservative Party’s majority in the legislature, “things will probably move pretty quickly.”
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Once the law passes, Prof. Cook said, “the strike that the teachers are taking right now will be deemed illegal,” and the government could fine or penalize educators or their union if they refuse to return to work.
She added that the ATA is expected to challenge the legislation in court, though teachers would be legally required to resume work in the meantime.
On Friday, the Alberta Federation of Labour issued a statement warning of “unprecedented” mobilization if the government invokes the controversial notwithstanding clause, a Charter provision that allows governments to override certain rights for up to five years.
The province has not said it will use the clause, but the AFL is concerned it will be included in the back-to-work legislation on Monday.
“Invoking the clause ... would escalate the situation from a confrontation between your government and the teachers to a confrontation between you and the entire Canadian labour movement,” said the federation, which represents 350,000 Alberta workers across multiple industries.
“If you take this unprecedented approach, we will have no choice but to mobilize an unprecedented response.”
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On her call-in radio show on Saturday, Ms. Smith was asked what her reaction was to the threat of a provincewide strike being called if her government invokes the notwithstanding clause.
In her response, she did not rule out using the clause, saying only that she hopes the two sides can reach an agreement before legislation is introduced.
“I hope it doesn’t end up going to a broader labour action,” she said.
The notwithstanding clause is seen as controversial because it can prevent a union from using the Charter of Rights and Freedoms to argue that a worker has the right to strike.
In 2022, Ontario Premier Doug Ford introduced back-to-work legislation, which included the notwithstanding clause, to halt a potential strike by 55,000 education workers.
Mr. Ford eventually repealed that legislation after pushback from multiple labour organizations.
“This level of government intervention isn’t being seen very positively by the labour movement overall,” Prof. Cook said. “Teachers actually aren’t categorized as essential workers, and so to compel them to go back to work and … to legally take a position that overrides their right to strike. That’s a big one.”
If Alberta goes ahead with back-to-work legislation, the ATA said it would seek advice from legal counsel.