ATA files complaint to Labour Board

By Lethbridge Herald on December 13, 2025.

Alejandra Pulido-Guzman
Lethbridge Herald

The Alberta Teachers Association is taking the next steps to protect teachers’ rights. 

ATA president Jason Schilling said during a press conference Friday morning they are taking another step to stand up for teachers and the students and families they serve.

“Today we’re filing a Labour Board Relations complaint for unfair bargaining practices directed at the teachers Employer Bargaining association,” said Schilling. “We’re also filing 61 grievances, one in every bargaining unit across this province.” 

He said these actions are necessary because the government has attempted to rewrite its own commitment throughout the bargaining process.

“We saw this in the recent e-mail from Mr. Long claiming that teachers needed to be first back to work because an arbitral deal might have cost the government millions more,” said Schilling. 

He said the Minister of Education echoed that message, arguing only elected officials should make financial decisions of this scale. 

Schilling explained that the Alberta Labour’s relation Code, the government’s own piece of legislation speaks directly to arbitration as a possible process to set up collective bargaining disputes when an impasse is reached. 

“Yet throughout bargaining, we were repeatedly told that the governments offer was based on what was fair, not on what was most affordable,” said Schilling.  

He said these shifting explanations and narratives confirm what teachers have understood from the beginning, that government speaks in contradictions and hopes Albertans don’t notice. But teachers noticed, families noticed, and the public notice. 

“The government repeatedly promised 3000 new teachers over the next three years, they made that claim in media releases and public statements and on the floor of the Legislature,” said Schilling. 

He said on Aug. 28, Ministers Nate Horner and Demetrius Nicolaides issued a joint statement that includes the sentences “we heard their bargaining concerns and carefully considered how we could best support teachers, students and their classrooms.” “They have been offered what they’ve asked for and they’ve been offered what they said was needed.” 

“They use this to insist that their offer matched the request the ATA made at the bargaining table. They used it to create an illusion of significant new investment in classrooms,” said Schilling. 

He said that after imposing the legislative contract on teachers, the government insists that the phrase “net new,” which is how the promise was always phrased, simply meant any increase over the prior year, even if those positions were already funded in budget 2025. 

He said this means that the new teachers Albertans were promised will not be there to reduce the overcrowded classrooms that students still find themselves in. 

“In addition to the bait and switch on Alberta teachers and students, this government purposefully and calculated actions have attempted to create a wedge between teachers and their associations,” said Schilling. 

He said comments from government officials publicly questioned the ATA’s motives and misrepresented their actions during bargaining. 

“These remarks undermined the association’s credibility with members and hindered the association’s right to represent its members,” said Schilling. “This is not simply a misunderstanding; it is a breach of good faith.” 

He said it was also a misrepresentation that affected the decisions made at the bargaining table and the understanding of Albertans.  

“Teachers will not accept that. We’re seeking clear and enforceable remedies, including a declaration that the 1000 full-time equivalent teachers per year must be funded and hired, in addition to the commitments made in the February 2025 budget and in subsequent budget years that follow,” said Schilling. 

He said in addition they want an order compelling the Teachers Employee Bargaining Association to fulfill the commitments this school year. 

“Teachers have always bargained in good faith. We’ve always been clear about what students need, and we’ve always stood firm when the government attempts to blur the truth,” said Schilling. 

He said this government may be comfortable with half stories and shifting explanations, but they are not. 

“We will continue to hold them to their commitments, to their own words. And to the standards Albertans expect and deserve,” said Schilling. “This government must be held accountable. Our message today is straightforward. Agreements matter, words matter, the truth matters, and we will defend all three.”