Alberta on edge: Parents scramble, students stressed as teachers’ strike looms

Kathy Le reports on the looming teacher strike in Alberta, that could leave classrooms empty and parents franticly searching for childcare come Monday.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) confirmed that a strike has not been averted and educators will commence job action at the start of next week. This means Friday could mark the final bell for Alberta students for an undetermined period of time.

Delowar Hossain, father of two young children in Calgary, says it’s been a stressful time for his family.

“Ultimately, this is affecting everything in our daily life,” said Hossain.

Hossain’s five-year-old daughter is in kindergarten and a strike would cut short the before-and-after-school care she receives at her school.

“It will be very difficult for me because I work until 5 p.m. and then I have to rush on the train,” he said.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to pick her up by 5:30 p.m. … I don’t know what will happen.”

His wife works long hours, so he is responsible for pick-ups and drop-offs for his children.

“I might talk with my employer to see if I can leave a little bit early to pick them up, but I’m not sure about that,” he said.

Many families are in the same situation, as the teachers’ strike will impact more than 700,000 students across the province.

Ariana Rudy, a Grade 11 International Baccalaureate student, says she won’t be able to cover all the material needed for her exams in April due to disrupted studies.

“I know me and a lot of my classmates are really stressed out about all of that, and we honestly don’t know what we’re going to do,” said Rudy.

“We’re going to have no guidance, and no one is really telling us what we should do.”

On Monday, nearly 90 per cent of ATA members rejected the province’s latest offer, which included a 12 per cent wage increase over four years, along with funding for 3,000 new teachers and 1,500 education assistants.

This week, ATA President Jason Schilling said the offer wasn’t enough.

“Teachers have rejected that because we know that 3,000 teachers is just a drop in the bucket of what is needed across the province,” said Schilling.

In a statement to CTV News, the Ministry of Treasury Board and Finance said the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) is ready to return to the table and negotiate a fair deal, once the ATA has consulted with its members.

“The onus is on ATA leadership to determine what supports teachers are actually looking for. TEBA has submitted a formal letter to the ATA asking them to come back to the table with creative solutions. We are waiting for the ATA’s response. Our goal is always to keep our kids in school,” the statement said.

Hossain supports teachers and wants them to receive a fair deal, but he is concerned that negotiations could take a long time.

“We don’t want this type of situation because when there is no school, there will be no learning for her,” he said.

The provincial government has pledged to redirect money not paid to teacher salaries during the strike to support families. Beginning Oct. 31, parents of children 12 and under would be eligible for $30-a-day or $150-a-week.