MONTREAL — Some 51,000 teachers in Alberta walked off the job Oct. 6 in a fight against overcrowded classrooms and the erosion of public education, and for wages that keep up with inflation.
They had previously voted by close to 90% to reject, for a second time, a proposed contract between their union, the Alberta Teachers’ Association, and Alberta’s United Conservative Party provincial government.
The day before the walkout more than 20,000 teachers, students, parents and other working people held rallies in Edmonton, Calgary, Red Deer and Lethbridge, showing the broad support for the teachers’ fight.
“This strike is not just about us,” Jason Schilling, president of the teachers union, told the press. “It’s for the students who can’t get the education they deserve because of class sizes and lack of resources.”
Hundreds of students walked out of class Sept. 22 to rally outside the Alberta legislature in Edmonton as well as in Calgary in support of the teachers. Evan Li, a 17-year-old Grade 12 student, told the Oct. 5 Calgary rally what it’s like for students in classrooms of 50 or 60 students. “Imagine what that means for kids with special needs who need extra help. We support our teachers because they are standing up for us.”
“We have students who are struggling to learn English, students who are struggling with different learning needs,” Jackie Ford, a teacher for 27 years who has 38 students in her Grade 6 class, said. And teachers can’t “reach all of them and help all of them the way they deserve, the way we should be.”
Alberta teachers last went out on strike in 2002, but the provincial government declared a “public emergency” and ordered them back to work.
135,000 gov’t workers on strike
More than 135,000 workers are now out on strike across Canada, including 55,000 postal workers, 22,000 British Columbia government workers and 10,000 Ontario government college workers. They’re fighting against cutbacks and deteriorating public services, and for living wages to meet the havoc of inflation and ensure safe working conditions. They counter the government attacks on the right to strike carried out against rail, port and postal workers, as well as Air Canada flight attendants.
When postal workers went on strike last November, challenging Canada Post’s plans to introduce part-time weekend jobs at lower pay and second-rate benefits, they were ordered back to work on instructions from Ottawa.
The Canadian Union of Postal Workers began another cross-Canada strike Sept. 26 after Ottawa ordered Canada Post bosses to phase out door-to-door mail delivery and close many of the country’s rural post offices.
“We are fighting to save our jobs and the postal service,” Andrew Massa, a Montreal letter carrier, told the Militant Oct. 3 while picketing at the giant Saint-Laurent sorting plant here. “If the government tries to force us back to work again, we need to defy it, like the Air Canada flight attendants did” in August. The flight attendants’ courageous decision to defy the government, and the strength and support for their strike, have inspired workers across the country.