More than 355,000 Alberta students are back in their classrooms this
week after the government on Feb. 21 ordered 22,000 striking Alberta
teachers back to work.
The three-week strike may not be over yet. On Feb. 25 the Alberta
Teachers Association went to court to fight the government back-to-work
order. Results were not available by press time.
Government officials hope that with the strike over, trustees and
teachers can get back to the bargaining table and hammer out
settlements for each school district across the province. But few
people hold out hope for a negotiated settlement because nothing has
changed. The government has not given school boards extra money to
increase teachers’ salaries and reduce class sizes, the issue that
forced the teachers to walk out.
Learning minister Lyle Oberg has given the 22 affected school boards
and ATA locals until March 15 to reach a contract settlement. If they
don’t, the issue will be referred to an arbitrator who will have until
May 15 to reach a binding settlement.
