Teachers’ union slams back-to-work legislation

By Lethbridge Herald on October 25, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

The Alberta Teachers’ Association  is condemning the government’s plan to table legislation on Monday to force teachers back to work and end the province-wide strike. 

ATA president Jason Schilling said Friday that Bill 2, the Back to School Act, is undemocratic and deeply disrespectful to teachers, students and the collective bargaining process itself. 

“By legislating teachers back to work, the government has chosen to silence tens of thousands of voices,” said Schilling. “Instead of addressing what is the real crisis in education, they are choosing to silence it.”

With classroom sizes one of the key issues for teachers, Schilling was asked what the ATA would consider an immediate solution, since infrastructure takes time to develop and the physical space is not in place. Schilling said there are other ways to help teachers deal with the problem in the meantime. 

“More individuals in schools to help teachers to either teach students or work with students is a place to start. You may have a class that you could have two teachers in there doing a co-teaching situation.”

He said another way could be having more individuals in schools to be able to have one-on-one instruction with those who need it, or to help teachers with a small pull-out section. 

“Schools are creative, teachers are creative, they are resilient. You give them the resources, you give them the ability to have access to personnel, wraparound services and proper supports, and they will find a way to use those resources to help students.”

Schilling said that by tabling back to work legislation, the government is choosing to ignore the issues raised by teachers and any kind of negotiated settlement down the road. 

“Public education is in crisis and the system needs to be fixed. We’re in a situation that cannot be ignored any longer. And we are running the risk of returning to the same broken system that drove us to strike in the first place.”

He said the system has too many students, too few supports and too little respect, which makes it hard for teachers to teach and for students to learn. 

“And that is why class size and student-teacher ratios must be part of the solution going forward. Evidence from around the world shows that smaller class sizes improve learning outcomes.”

He added it also strengthens teacher-students’ relationships and delivers the biggest gains for the most vulnerable students. 

Teachers have spoken up and Albertans have spoken up, said Schilling, but instead of listening and negotiating at the bargaining table, the government is choosing to shut down the conversation. 

“This government may plan to legislate a return to work, but they cannot force us to stop caring, they cannot force us to stop advocating. We will continue to stand strong together, so those who lead this province will finally learn to listen.” 

When asked about the possibility of resisting the legislation or any part of it, and if the ATA has spoken to legal counsel about itsoptions, Schilling said the options will be considered once they see the actual details of the bill. 

“Throughout the entire bargaining process, the association always refers to legal counsel to make sure that we are meeting labour board guidelines, that we are following the law that is laid out by the legislation that governs bargaining, so we are constantly in conversations with our lawyers and our team with that and throughout the process as well.”