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Back-to-work legislation to end Alberta teachers’ strike coming Monday, says premier

The Alberta government will table back-to-work legislation on Monday that seeks to end the provincewide teachers’ strike, Premier Danielle Smith said Thursday morning.

The government served formal notice Thursday that it would be introducing Bill 2, known as the Back to School Act, announcing it via an order paper published on the Alberta Legislature’s website.

“The precondition has to be getting kids back to school and so far, [the teachers’ union has] been unwilling to do that,” Smith said during a news conference.

“It’s not to say that they won’t have an agreement with us in the next 72 hours. But we feel that it’s not going to move in that direction.

“They came back with an offer that moves even further apart rather than closer together. So we would like to see a realistic approach that allows us to address the issues of classroom complexity, but we have to get kids back in the classroom.”

Alberta's New Democrats condemn UCP government attack on teachers and students

Naheed Nenshi, Leader, Alberta’s New Democrats, condemns UCP government attack on teachers and students:

“Today, we learned the UCP government is not only forcing teachers back to school without addressing any of their concerns, but it's also changing the rules to ram through this legislation even more quickly.

“This is the biggest abuse of democratic rights in Alberta’s history.

“This is an attack on teachers, on public education, on all workers and their unions, and on democracy itself. We unequivocally condemn it.