EDMONTON - The union for Alberta鈥檚 teachers says the province using the Charter鈥檚 notwithstanding clause to end their strike is a gross abuse of power -- but says it will follow the law.
The Alberta Teachers鈥 Association, in a statement issued early Tuesday morning, said it 鈥渉as taken the position that it will pursue all legal alternatives to challenge Bill 2鈥檚 egregious assault on the collective bargaining rights of teachers and, by extension, all workers."
It added, 鈥淚n this effort, we anticipate that we will be supported by organized labour, civil society and ordinary citizens.
鈥淭his fight has just begun.鈥
The statement was issued just before members of Premier Danielle Smith鈥檚 United Conservative governing caucus used their majority in the legislature to pass the bill. The caucus put time limits on debate to get the entire bill passed through multiple debate stages in just six and a half hours.
The bill passed third and final reading at 2 a.m. Tuesday to shouts of 鈥淪hame!鈥 from opponents.
Under the bill, the Alberta Teachers鈥 Association and its members face hefty fines if they defy the back-to-work order: up to $500 a day for individuals and $500,000 a day for the union.
During debate, Education Minister Demetrios Nicolaides told the house the government faced an 鈥渦ndeniable moral imperative鈥 to stop a three-week strike that was harming students鈥 social and educational development.
鈥淭his strike has moved beyond the state of inconvenience,鈥 Nicolaides told the house.
Smith was not in the house for the introduction or the passage of the bill, having left earlier Monday evening on a trade mission to Saudi Arabia and other destinations in the Middle East.
The Opposition NDP voted against the bill, calling the use of the notwithstanding clause an authoritarian abuse of power from a government that professes to honour freedom and liberty.
NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi said the government chose to go "nuclear" to get out of the problems in public education it had created.
"Albertans will be forgiven for asking themselves, 'Who's next?'" he said. "What rights does this premier want to defend and which ones is she willing to trample over and for whom?"
The move puts Smith鈥檚 government on a potential collision course with the Common Front, a coalition of more than 350,000 workers in other provincial unions. The Common Front has promised an 鈥渦nprecedented response" if the government invoked the clause to override teachers鈥 constitutional rights to assemble.
Gil McGowan, president of the Alberta Federation of Labour and the point person for the Common Front, told reporters Monday they are looking at all options, including a strike.
Later Monday night, in a series of posts on social media, McGowan said meetings are happening Tuesday and an announcement is coming Wednesday.
鈥淢y message to Alberta teachers is simple: you will not stand alone,鈥 McGowan wrote.聽
鈥淎ll other Alberta unions will meet to finalize a plan for unprecedented collective action. The executive council of the 好色tv Labour Congress will also meet in (an) emergency session."
McGowan added, 鈥(Labour Congress) president Bea Bruske will fly to Alberta for our press conference on Wednesday to pledge the support of the entire labour movement.聽
鈥淢y message to Danielle Smith is also simply: you鈥檙e the bully going after workers鈥 rights and democracy. We will stand up to the bully."
McGowan said other provincial labour federations are also collecting funds to build a war chest to pay potential fines levied for an illegal strike.
The Alberta Teachers鈥 Association, in its statement, agreed that unions are fundamentally undermined if governments feel free to invoke the notwithstanding clause in labour disputes.聽
鈥淭his legislation is a gross violation of the foundational principles of collective bargaining and the ability of workers to organize and bargain collectively,鈥 it said.
鈥淩ights are indivisible. An attack on teachers鈥 right to free association is an attack on all workers and sets a precedent for this government to trample on other fundamental freedoms and individual rights."
There's political precedent for using the notwithstanding clause in an attempt to end labour action.
In 2022, Ontario Premier Doug Ford鈥檚 government used it to prevent a court challenge to a bill stopping 55,000 school support workers from going on strike.
They walked off the job on the day the legislation went into effect, shutting down thousands of schools. But public outcry prompted the province to repeal it.
Before the bill was introduced Monday, Smith told reporters the size of the strike 鈥 the largest in Alberta history -- and the need for ongoing labour stability in schools required the clause, which overrides Charter rights for up to five years.
The strike has already affected the more than 740,000 students out of schools since it began Oct. 6.聽
The bill imposes a collective bargaining agreement previously put forward by the union and the province, which rank-and-file teachers overwhelmingly rejected in a vote. Teachers would receive a 12 per cent wage hike over four years, with a promise to hire 3,000 more teachers and 1,500 more educational assistants.
The bill also overrides protections in the Alberta Bill of Rights and the Alberta Human Rights Act.
The teachers from public, separate and francophone schools walked off the job after the two sides failed to find common ground, mainly on the issue of class sizes and complexity. The union called for immediate action on overcrowded classrooms and on the lack of supports for students who need specialized care.
Smith has said the issues can't be solved with a one-size-fits-all approach at the bargaining table, but require a flexible, collaborative approach.
On Monday, she committed to collecting and publicly reporting data on classroom sizes 鈥 a measure abandoned by the United Conservatives under former premier Jason Kenney 鈥 and to forming a special panel on classroom complexity.
In the Tuesday statement, the teachers鈥 association said, 鈥淲e must be clear: although this legislation might end the strike and lift the lockout, it does not end the underfunding and deterioration of teaching and learning conditions.
"Our schools will not be better for it."
This report by 好色tvwas first published Oct. 28, 2025.
