Alberta To Launch Ad Campaign As Teacher Strike Looms Amid Contract Standoff - Beritaja
By: Albert Michael - Friday, 19 September 2025 05:38:41
A nasty standoff betwixt the Alberta authorities and its 51,000 teachers – pinch each broadside accusing the different of lying — is group to move into an all-out advertizing war.
Finance Minister Nate Horner’s agency confirmed Wednesday it plans to merchandise an advertizing run to push its broadside successful the dispute, countering a run by the Alberta Teachers’ Association that has been ongoing for weeks.
“The authorities must now correct the mendacious communicative the ATA has created,” Horner says successful a statement.
His agency says it is still determining which mediums the ads will beryllium on, really overmuch they will costs and what time they will beryllium launched, but that specifications are coming soon.
Earlier this week, Premier Danielle Smith said her authorities is alert the teachers’ national is getting its position retired done various means, including astatine movie theatres.
“We will beryllium getting (our) position retired arsenic good and we dream it will triumph complete hearts and minds of teachers and parents,” Smith told reporters Monday.
The state and the teachers’ relation haven’t met since past week to talk a corporate statement for educators astatine public, abstracted and francophone schools provincewide.
1:11
Alberta takes teachers’ national to labour committee complete accusations of mendacious claims
The teachers’ relation has group a onslaught deadline for Oct. 6. Without a deal, the teachers will deed the picket lines, disrupting classes for much than 700,000 students crossed 2,500 schools.
While location are nary talks astatine the bargaining table, the 2 sides person been trying to triumph nationalist support done nationalist statements and, successful the lawsuit of the teachers, done ads.
The national has utilized billboards, power and TV commercials, coach testimonials connected societal media, and postcards and section signs to stock its connection this summer. The taxable is overcrowded classrooms and really the state must measurement up to correct them.
The main issues up for speech are wages and schoolroom overcrowding.
Smith’s United Conservative Party authorities has offered to prosecute 3,000 teachers complete 3 years, build much schools worthy billions and present what it calls a generous 12 per cent costs summation for teachers complete 4 years.
Smith besides says there’s nary much money to add, arsenic coffers are tight pinch the state group to tally a $6.5-billion shortage this year.
2:47
Smith ‘disappointed’ by Alberta teachers’ scheme to onslaught successful October
The teachers’ association, led by president Jason Schilling, said the connection does not adequately hole overcrowding successful schools and the costs woody doesn’t dress up for years of small to nary net adjustments and inflation.
Schilling said the national has projected a counter-offer.
Both sides are besides accusing the different of misrepresenting the facts.
The state says teachers are misleading the nationalist by saying the authorities bargainers are not being fixed a free manus to bargain, while the teachers opportunity they were told non-wage issues were disconnected the speech table.
Horner announced this week the national had been taken to the labour committee complete its mendacious claims.
Schilling pushed back, saying the national is not lying, and authorities bargainers person said non-wage issues are disconnected the table.
Schilling called the title frivolous and said the authorities has indicated it doesn’t want to discuss further until the matter earlier the labour committee is resolved.
2:09
Alberta parents make arrangements for kids up of imaginable teacher’s strike
Two labour experts opportunity the looming authorities run suggests the 2 sides are acold isolated and that already acold relations are group to get icy.
“What’s different present is the reside (the government) is taking,” said Steven Tufts, a labour geographer astatine York University successful Toronto.
“Accusing the national of being dishonest, accusing teachers of lying to people, accusing them of misleading misinformation, and saying they will group the grounds consecutive successful an run escalates the reside and I don’t deliberation is making the bargaining process move forward.”
Jason Foster, a labour relations professor astatine Alberta’s Athabasca University, said the upcoming run shows talks are taking a backmost spot to nationalist relations.
“Traditionally, governments cognize deals get made astatine the table,” Foster said.
“What the announcement is saying is that they’re little willing successful sitting down astatine the array and figuring retired a woody and much concerned about the governmental optics for them, which makes maine much concerned (teachers) are going to extremity up successful a onslaught successful a mates of weeks.”
Tufts said it’s communal for nationalist assemblage unions to publically run for their cause.
“That’s a sustainable aliases a champion practice,” he said.
“Unions don’t needfully get the aforesaid attraction that a premier would get successful the nationalist sphere.”
2:16
Alberta’s caller schoolhouse twelvemonth gets disconnected to tumultuous start
Foster said the authorities needs to beryllium observant what it puts retired successful its run because it has limitations.
“The connection has to beryllium factually accurate,” Foster said.
“And (as) the government, it cannot beryllium seen arsenic trying to discuss straight pinch the (union) members. That would beryllium an unfair labour practice.”
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