Alberta schools, educators, students preparing for classes to resume if bill orders teachers back to work

Some Alberta school divisions and one labour expert anticipate that a bill coming Monday ordering teachers back to work will say when classes should resume.

Mount Royal University human resources professor Christian Cook said in a Friday interview that once proclaimed, back-to-work legislation could order teachers back into schools within 24 to 48 hours.

“Once that happens, strike action will actually be deemed illegal,” Cook said.

The Alberta government has said Finance Minister Nate Horner intends to table the Back to School Act on Monday, aiming to end the lockout of 51,000 public, Catholic and francophone teachers who went on strike Oct. 6.

The province’s four largest school divisions said they don’t know when classes will resume, but are telling families not to send their children to school on Monday — the legislature hasn’t yet debated or passed the order.

Edmonton Catholic Schools expects the legislation will spell out when teachers are to return to work, spokesperson Christine Meadows said.

The government house leader’s office did not respond to questions on Friday about what time on Monday the minister intends to table Bill 2, or when he will call for debate in the legislature.

The order paper, which lists motions that government members and MLAs intend to make, lists five motions that, if passed, would allow the legislature to limit the time allotted for debate and to push the bill through multiple stages of debate within one day.

The Opposition NDP said it will oppose the legislation, but the United Conservative Party government has a majority of votes.

Cook said if the government successfully uses fast-tracking tools, the bill could pass on Monday or Tuesday.

She said employers also have the ability to fine or penalize any teachers, or their association, if they refuse to return to work when the law takes effect.

“Teachers will not have the opportunity to resist that,” Cook said. “... The consequences are actually very high for non-compliance.”

Similarly, back-to-work legislation would end the employers’ lockout, which began on Oct. 9. Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) president Jason Schilling said at a news conference on Friday a bill that outlaws job action would also prevent teachers from working to rule.

Schilling said ordering teachers back to work does not resolve the underlying disagreements that led to the strike.