Alberta teachers could walk off the job within the next 120 days after an overwhelming majority voted in favour of strike action.
Nearly 39,000 teachers across Alberta cast their votes between June 5 and 8. The Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) announced that 94.5 per cent of teachers supported strike action if an agreement cannot be reached with the province.
ATA president Jason Schilling said with this vote, "teachers are sending an unmistakable message."
"We are united. We're determined, and we will no longer hold up a crumbling public education system that this government fails to fund properly," he said.
Schilling said the strike vote was not just about securing higher pay but also about demanding respect, better resources and a stronger future for education in Alberta.
"It's about our students who are slipping through the cracks. It is about our colleagues who are burning out and leaving the profession. It is about our working conditions, which are our students' learning conditions," said Schilling. "For too long, teachers have been propping up a system that is under-resourced and overburdened."
Schilling explained that Alberta spends the least amount of money per student compared to any other province, which is impacting the quality of education students receive.
"Teachers want every student to thrive, but in overcrowded under supported classrooms, students are not getting the one on one attention they deserve, and my colleagues do not have the tools they need to do their jobs properly, and they're burning out under the weight of these impossible expectations," he said.
Schilling said they are still working on coming to a deal, which is what they ultimately want.
"The government needs to act now, because Alberta's kids can't wait. The future of public education, our future as Albertans depends on it," said Schilling.
Teachers now have 180 days to invoke strike action. At this time, there is no set date for when teachers may walk off the job; however, if they decide to, they have to provide 72 hours' notice to their employer.
Schilling said the Provincial Executive Council, the governing body of the ATA, is set to meet later this week to discuss next steps and strategies.
The ATA's collective agreement expired in August 2024. In January, negotiations between the two sides went to mediation, where the mediator issued a set of recommended settlement terms that required approval from both parties.
However, 62 per cent of teachers later voted "no" to the mediator's recommendation in May.
In a statement, Finance Minister Nate Horner said the mediator's recommendation included the same 12 per cent general wage increase over four years that other unions and their members had already accepted.
"The recommendation also included a government commitment of more than $400 million in classroom improvements which would have started this fall," said Horner.
In addition to this, the recommendation provided a grid harmonization for teachers, which would have resulted in a further five per cent wage increase depending on the teacher's current wage grid. There would also be increases between three and six per cent in northern incentives and market adjustments for substitute teachers.
"Alberta's government has tremendous respect for teachers, principals, system leaders and school divisions for their ongoing hard work inspiring and guiding students," said Horner.
The ATA and the Teachers' Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) have dates set throughout the summer to continue mediation.
