Alberta teachers vote 99% in favour of strike authorization: ATA

Alberta teachers have voted overwhelmingly in favour of a strike authorization, according to the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA).

With a 99 per cent vote in favour, the association says teachers in the province have shown the UCP government they “can no longer hold up our crumbling public education system.”

“Teachers are standing united in demanding respect and recognition for the challenges they experience in today’s classrooms,” says ATA president Jason Schilling in a statement. “Settling for anything less than tangible solutions will not be tolerated.”

Nearly 38,000 teachers voted between May 22 and May 26.

The ATA says crowded classrooms and a lack of wage increases are the main points of contention among teachers in the province.

Negotiations between the representatives of teachers and the province went to mediation in January, and the mediator released a set of recommended terms for a settlement that needed to be approved by both sides.

Earlier this month, 62 per cent of teachers voted ‘no’ to a mediator’s recommendation for a new collective agreement.

The ATA’s Provincial Executive Council will determine the next steps, which could include a formal strike vote if no resolution is reached with the province.

In a statement to CityNews, the province says the offer was endorsed by ATA leadership and they are still waiting to hear why the majority of those who voted rejected the deal.

“The rejected deal included general wage increase adjustments already accepted by other unions and their members, and more than $400 million in classroom improvements which would have started this fall,” reads the statement from the Ministry of Treasury Board and Finance.

The province says they are ready to return to the bargaining table at any time.