About 750,000 Alberta Students Enter Third Week Of No School Amid Teachers Strike - Beritaja

A labour relations professor is criticizing the Alberta government’s threat to legislate striking teachers backmost to activity arsenic about 750,000 students participate a 3rd week of cancelled classes connected Monday.

Jason Foster, of Alberta’s Athabasca University, says the government’s scheme could create much problems down the road.

“So alternatively of trying to resoluteness the conflict, they (could use) a get-out-of-jail-free paper to conscionable bring an extremity to this full thing,” he said successful a telephone question and reply Sunday.

“Governments do this because it solves their contiguous governmental problem. But what it does is it conscionable creates much problems. It intends that the issues and concerns of the teachers spell unresolved. They consciousness moreover little respected, little heard.”

Premier Danielle Smith said past week teachers could “fully expect” to beryllium ordered backmost to activity if the onslaught is still connected by Oct. 27, erstwhile members of the legislative assembly reconvene.

“We deliberation that 3 weeks is about the limit of what students could grip earlier we’d commencement seeing irreparable harm,” she said Friday.

Around 2,500 schools were shuttered aft 51,000 teachers walked disconnected the occupation connected Oct. 6.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association and the authorities person been see-sawing complete a statement since then, pinch the main sticking points being wages, schoolroom sizes and support for students pinch analyzable needs.

Finance Minister Nate Horner said students are facing the consequences of the union’s rejection of a erstwhile authorities connection and its caller refusal to spell done enhanced mediation and reopen schools Monday.

“Students person missed retired connected valuable learning, sports activities, individual development, societal interaction, and more,” he said connected Friday.

“Their acquisition and wellbeing are astatine the bosom of everything we do, and adjacent steps will beryllium focused connected getting kids backmost into the schoolroom arsenic soon arsenic possible.”

In the past provincewide teachers onslaught successful 2002, Foster said the authorities besides ordered teachers backmost to work.

Then-premier Ralph Klein besides formed a committee aft the order, to study the authorities of Alberta’s acquisition strategy and connection recommendations to government.

Smith said past week her authorities wants to shape a committee connected acquisition erstwhile the provincewide onslaught is over, too.

But Foster said the recommendations the earlier committee gave, including class-size guidelines, were ne'er implemented and are still an rumor successful this information of bargaining.

ATA president Jason Schilling was asked successful a Sept. 30 question and reply pinch BERITAJA whether teachers would defy a back-to-work order.

“All options would beryllium connected the array astatine that point,” he responded.

The onslaught has strained Alberta businesses, ended captious schoolhouse nutrient programs for students, and near students preparing for assemblage applications stressed.

The online lessons the Alberta authorities has curated for students to usage amid the onslaught has besides been criticized arsenic being incoherent and for creating much confusion.

The Alberta government’s bargaining committee and the teachers’ relation haven’t formally met since the Oct. 6 walkout.

The ATA said Sunday it remains “open to gathering pinch (the government) to bargain successful bully religion connected the proposals we provided to them.”

Horner’s agency did not instantly respond to questions about bargaining connected Sunday.

Horner has said the national has “shot for the moon” pinch its latest connection and the authorities can’t spend it. He said it requires the state walk $2 cardinal much than the $2.6 cardinal it group speech complete 4 years successful its past offer.

The authorities offered a 12-per-cent net summation complete 4 years and a committedness to prosecute 3,000 much teachers.

Last Friday, a authorities missive that invited the national for enhanced arbitration said the teachers and authorities were “extremely acold apart” and the conflict is causing an “unacceptable authorities of affairs.”

It said enhanced mediation would past a month, aft which the mediator would put non-binding position to some parties for review.

Schilling called the mediation connection insulting arsenic it vetoed chat of caps connected schoolroom sizes. He didn’t norm retired the anticipation of ending the onslaught if the state changes the position of mediation.

He besides said teachers aren’t consenting to backmost down connected the demands they’ve made since rejecting the government’s erstwhile offer.

The union’s counteroffer includes wages that support up pinch ostentation and reside class-size caps.

Teachers opportunity they regularly person much than 30 students successful their classrooms and are stretched excessively thin.

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