{"id":115807,"date":"2025-09-03T03:46:15","date_gmt":"2025-09-03T03:46:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/115807\/"},"modified":"2025-09-03T03:46:15","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T03:46:15","slug":"threat-of-strike-by-albertas-teachers-looms-large-over-1st-day-of-school","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/115807\/","title":{"rendered":"Threat of strike by Alberta\u2019s teachers looms large over 1st day of school"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s back to school time for thousands of students across Alberta today.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But this year, there is an air of uncertainty with the threat of a possible teachers<\/a> hanging over the first day of school.<\/p>\n

So far the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA) has not served strike notice, and must give 72 hours notice should the 51,000 members decide to go on strike.<\/p>\n

Contract talks between the union and the government broke off last week<\/a> after two days of negotiations with the help of a mediator.<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t1:55
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNo deal for Alberta teachers after latest talks break down\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The province claims its latest contract offer includes hiring 3,000 new teachers over three years and boosting teachers\u2019 pay by 12 per cent over four years.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides said he thought the two sides were close to an agreement and accused the union of changing its contract demands.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"For<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGet breaking National news<\/p>\n

For news impacting Canada and around the world, sign up for breaking news alerts delivered directly to you when they happen.<\/p>\n

The ATA responded by calling the government\u2019s latest offer inadequate \u2014 that the 3,000 teachers are only \u201ca drop in the bucket\u201d to address recent population growth in an already strained education system<\/a> and the government\u2019s wage offer does not help teachers keep up with inflation.<\/p>\n

In June, teachers voted 95 per cent in favour of a strike if needed.<\/p>\n

As parents and children arrived for the first day of school at Mount Pleasant School in Edmonton, they were hopeful a strike can be avoided.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve made alternative plans for daycare just in case that happens, but hopefully fingers crossed that doesn\u2019t happen so she can enjoy school without any break,\u201d said Eme Josephneke.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe met the teachers, we had the orientation day here. I can feel the teachers\u2019 side; we stand with them,\u201d said Rawad Chaaban.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tThe Chief Superintendant of the Calgary Board of Education, Joanne Pitman, tells Global News, the board has made plans in case the dispute escalates further, but those plans depend on the nature of any potential job action.\t\t\t\t <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tGlobal News\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

The Chief Superintendent of the Calgary Board of Education, Joanne Pitman, said the focus for now needs to be on student learning.<\/p>\n

Story continues below advertisement<\/p>\n

\u201cI know parents have many questions and uncertainty is hard for everyone.,\u201d Pitman said. \u201cI think each day as we move forward, our focus is what is actually happening, what could happen is something we\u2019ve got strong plans in place for.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt does depend on the nature of that job action. It could look different.\u00a0 If it is a general strike we know that families will need to be prepared with alternative plans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first couple days are about connection and getting to know one another.\u00a0 So we need people focused on one another and not what could happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

So far, no new talks between the two sides have been scheduled.<\/p>\n

Finance Minister Nate Horner, said in a statement to Global News that, \u201cthe ATA has made no attempt to reach out or reschedule bargaining dates after walking away from the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t3:51
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tAlberta Teachers\u2019 Association warns education system \u2018unsustainable\u2019 after talks break down\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n\t\t&copy 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.\t<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s back to school time for thousands of students across Alberta today. But this year, there is an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":115808,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[64916,64915,549,43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":{"0":"post-115807","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-alberta-teachers-strike","9":"tag-calgary-education","10":"tag-education","11":"tag-headlines","12":"tag-news","13":"tag-top-news","14":"tag-top-stories","15":"tag-topnews","16":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115807","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115807"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115807\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/115808"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115807"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115807"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115807"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}