Amid an ongoing teachers’ strike in Alberta now entering its fourth day, an expert in labor relations questions the rationale behind the delay in implementing a lockout by the bargaining entity. The Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) recently informed the Alberta Teachers’ Association about the impending lockout scheduled to commence on Thursday. Jason Foster, a labor relations professor at Athabasca University, highlighted that this move restricts teachers from altering their strike strategies, eliminating options like rotating job actions. Furthermore, the lockout empowers school boards to potentially initiate layoffs of staff, including educational assistants and custodians who have continued working since the strike commenced earlier in the week.
Foster expressed confusion over TEBA’s delay in issuing the lockout notice, emphasizing that they had ample time to align it with the strike deadline. In response, bargaining association chair Scott McCormack justified the lockout as a measure to prevent the uncertainty caused by previous rotating strikes by educational assistants. The ongoing strike involving 51,000 Alberta teachers, deemed the largest in provincial history, revolves around disputes with Premier Danielle Smith’s administration regarding issues such as wages, classroom overcrowding, and student needs.
The government’s rejected proposal, which included a 12% wage increase over four years and the hiring of 3,000 additional teachers, has exacerbated the situation. Approximately 750,000 students across 2,500 schools are impacted by the strike. Alberta Teachers’ Association President Jason Schilling attributed the classroom disruptions to chronic underfunding by the province, while Premier Smith insisted on teachers presenting an agreeable proposal to resume negotiations.
Drawing parallels between the current strike and the 2002 teachers’ strike, Foster believes that a swift resolution through negotiation is unlikely and anticipates eventual government intervention to mandate the return of teachers to work. However, he warns that such an order could deepen the conflict with teachers and potentially harm the government’s standing with supportive Albertans.