Teachers are forced back to work after Bill 2 passes

By Lethbridge Herald on October 29, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

Tensions were high during the afternoon and evening session of the Legislative Assembly Monday as the Government of Alberta introduced and passed Bill 2, Back to School Act.

Third reading of Bill 2 was passed at 2 a.m. after multiple division votes, high tension, and exhaustion from those in attendance. 

Members of the NDP caucus did all they could to delay the passing of Bill 2 and used all the tools in their belts to make sure Albertans knew how against it they were, but in the end, the UCP caucus had more members voting on each motion, each division vote and each reading. 

Bill 2 was introduced by Minister of Finance Nate Horner, in the afternoon session of the Legislative Assembly Monday. During the first reading he said the Back-to-School Act would provide teachers with a fair agreement based on the last mutually accepted offer between TEBA and the ATA and will ensure no further reparable harm is done to Alberta students through labour action. 

“The ongoing strike has deeply disrupted learning and cause lasting harm to our kids’ education and futures. After 18 months of bargaining and two rejected agreements recommended by ATA leadership, it is clear negotiated settlement is no longer possible,” said Horner.  

The legislation ensures that no further harm is done to Alberta students and there is an immediate end to the strike.  “It also invokes the notwithstanding clause to help ensure stability for the schools moving forward,” said Horner while people in the audience yelled until Speaker Ric McIver  called for order. 

During the second reading of Bill 2, Horner said that for nearly a month, classrooms across the province stood empty, for weeks students have gone without their teachers and the daily structure that gives them stability, security, and the quality education every parent expects. 

“Each passing day widens the learning gap, pushes kids further behind, and makes recovery harder. That’s what irreparable harm looks like and that’s why this legislation is necessary,” said Horner. 

He said this is not a step the government takes lightly but is one they must take to ensure no further “irreparable damage” is done to Alberta students as the result of the ongoing strike by the Alberta Teachers’ Association. 

The legislation implements the Memorandum of Agreement reached in late September, an agreement based on the ATA’s own offer and accepted by the Teachers Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA). 

“It’s fair, it’s reasonable and it reflects our respect for both teachers and the collective bargaining process,” said Horner. 

Under this agreement, teachers will receive a 12 per cent salary increase over four years, plus a market adjustment that will raise compensation for 95 per cent of teachers for up to 17 per cent. 

The bill also secures the hiring of 3,000 additional teachers and 1,500 educational assistants, and provides for free COVID-19 vaccines for teachers.

“Our government always preferred a negotiated settlement,” said Horner. “We were prepared to accept the March 2025 mediator’s recommendation endorsed by ATA leadership, but teachers rejected it.”

He said the September 2025 Memorandum of Agreement “would’ve imposed rigid classroom size and complexity rules, that would’ve made it impossible for school boards to operate effectively and nearly doubled the cost of the agreement on the table.”

Horner said the Alberta government has proven that it can bargain fairly with public sector unions. While he said that, people in the background booed and yelled. 

“Nurses, government workers, education support staff, and post-secondary faculty have all ratify agreements with similar terms for the same period,” said Horner. “But after 18 months of negotiation and mediation, there is no reasonable path to settle with teachers in sight.” 

Bill 2 also establishes accountability for compliance with the order, and the Alberta Labour Relations Board will oversee the enforcement. Teachers who don’t’ comply can be fined up to $500 a day, rising to $500,000 a day for organizations that don’t comply.

“These are not harsh measures,” said Horner. “They are safeguards to ensure Alberta families never again endure this level of disruption.” 

Horner said government considered and dismissed other approaches to settling the strike, such as a dispute inquiry board, a public emergency tribunal or voluntary arbitration. 

“Every one of those paths would’ve meant more delay and more uncertainty. Delay means more loss learning and deeper harm to students, and that is something this government simply cannot accept.” 

He said bargaining with teachers is done through a unique model that no other group of employees in Alberta follows. Each round of bargaining with teachers activates two separate sets of negotiations, one provincial bargaining table for central matters, and 61 local bargaining tables to consider local matters. Each set of negotiations being conducted with strike or lockout as a means for resolving disputes. 

“We cannot risk the frustrations and concerns over central negotiations to spill over into local bargaining, with a high likelihood of triggering multiple local strikes over matters no longer open for negotiations,” said Horner. “For the duration of this agreement from Sept.1, 2024 through Aug. 31, 2028, there will be no formal local bargaining. This legislation prevents that.”

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