Just days away from the start of the 2025-26 school year, negotiations between Alberta teachers and the province for a new contract are at a standstill.
The Alberta Teacher’s Association (ATA) says its Central Table Bargaining Committee (CTBC) met with the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Committee (TEBA) for two days this week, and there’s still no settlement.
The union claims the government didn’t budge on demands for a higher salary for educators, instead offering the same amount that was in the original mediator’s recommended terms — three per cent a year for four years and a unified salary grid.
“Teachers cannot accept a salary offer that does not attract and retain Alberta teachers by catching up and keeping up with inflation,” the ATA said.
ATA president Jason Schilling said Friday the inability to reach an agreement isn’t just about wages — it’s about classroom conditions like overcrowded classrooms and lack of resources, and government mandates like incoming library book removals, pronoun rules, and opt-in sexual education.
He explains that this has added to the workload of teachers.
“It don’t understand why teachers should have to ask for resources for things that the government wants them to do,” Schilling said. “If the government is going to put a mandate in place, if the government is going to put something on the plate for teachers to do, then the government should be supplying the resources, including money, for teachers to do that work.”
In contrast, the government is laying the blame on the ATA, saying it broke off negotiations despite being close to a reasonable settlement.
The ATA says it put forward a proposal in June that would see salary maintain retroactive pay for the 2024-25 school year, move the implementation date for the unified grid to Sept. 1, and add 1.5 per cent to the top of the grid.
The union’s proposal on learning conditions would have required hiring 1,000 teachers during each year of the agreement, for a total of 3,000 net new teachers by the end of the 2027-28 school year, the union adds.
The province says this would come at a cost $750 million. On Thursday, Minister of Finances, Nate Horner said the province’s projected deficit had ballooned to $6.5 billion, up $1.3 billion thanks to low oil prices and U.S. tariffs.
“We deeply appreciate the people who keep our public services running. Their work impacts us all, every single day. It’s important that we strike a balance between providing fair salaries to public sector employees and being fair to taxpayers,” Horner said at a Friday news conference. “In light of yesterday’s update, making room for that $750 million was not going to be easy, but we committed to it because we thought it could lead to a fair deal for teachers and stability for students and families.”
It rejected that proposal after conversations with the union.
This week’s negotiations saw the province submit a counterproposal to the union’s June presentation which agreed to the teacher hiring proposal, the ATA says. But, the government held firm on salary recommendations.
“The ATA has been maintaining their ongoing public campaign saying that teachers, families and students want better classroom conditions,” the government said in a statement. “We heard their bargaining concerns and carefully considered how we could best support teachers, students and their classrooms.
“They have been offered what they asked for. They have been offered what they said was needed.”
That’s not the case, according to the union, which is still preparing for the likelihood of a strike.
“We understand that members want more specificity around what’s next and when a possible strike could occur,” the ATA said. “Unfortunately, that remains unknown.”
The strike mandate, which received 94.5 per cent, expires Oct. 7.
The union would have to provide 72 hours notice before going on strike.
Minister of Education Demetrios Nicolaides is not ruling out the possibility of a lockout, but says the goal is to wrap up the situation with successful mediation.
“We prefer a negotiated settlement, we prefer finding a way to reach a negotiated deal — I think we’re very, very close and I would welcome ATA union leadership to come back to the table so we can fine tune some areas,” he said.
ATA says an updated campaign will be rolling out soon to convey its message — including radio advertisements, digital billboards, and social media posts.
Government officials are claiming the ongoing campaign by the union is manipulating the public, parents, and students into supporting its cause, claiming its goal its to “[divert] supports away from the classroom to further drive up teacher compensation.”
“I am extremely disappointed with the ATA bargaining team. Unfortunately, it is becoming increasing clear that the Alberta Teachers Association union leadership is only interested in playing politics with our kids,” Nicolaides added.
Schilling says that is false.
“Teachers are the pillars of our public education system. It’s time for the government to step up with a fair deal for teachers, because a fair deal for teachers is a good deal for kids,” he said.
Most students in Alberta are set to return to the classroom on Tuesday.