Alberta UCP has invoked the “notwithstanding clause” to override workers’ charter rights, ending the 51,000 strong teachers’ strike against cuts to public education. The Alberta Federation of Labour’s Common Front coalition, which represents over 350,000 Albertan workers, says it is beginning to make preparations for a general strike “if necessary”. The strike which started on October 6th has been a flashpoint in the Danielle Smith government’s drive to boost private interests in education, which teachers say is jeopardizing working conditions and students’ right to quality education.  “There is a group of people who think that if we would just shut down all funding for all private schools and give all that money to the public system, that that would solve the problems. And I look at it the opposite way,” said Smith earlier this month. In a frank display of the premier’s “opposite way,” the UCP on Tuesday passed the ‘Back to School Act’, legislating an end to the strike and imposing a contract which was overwhelmingly rejected by teachers back in September.  To accomplish this, the bill used the notwithstanding clause to suspend the workers’ charter rights; a move which the AFL president Gil McGowan has described as an “act of war” on workers. The notwithstanding clause lets federal or provincial governments override certain rights in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms for up to five years. To ensure this historic bill would not be held up by democratic processes, no more than one hour was allotted for debate at each stage of its reading.  Unions under siege Much has been said in recent days about the UCP’s “unprecedented” behavior, but an overview of recent events in Canada indicate it might be better understood as a ‘tip of the spear’ than as a lone wolf. Since June 2024, the federal government has invoked Section 107, a provision of the Canadian Labour Code which grants the Labour Minister the power to enforce arbitration on strikes which “threaten industrial peace,” to legislate the defeat of 7 different strikes. The frequency of government intervention was demonstrated earlier this year when Air Canada CEO Michael Rousseau admitted to negotiating in bad faith for nine months in the hope that the federal government would end the flight attendant strike. This hope, however, vanished when the workers defied the order. The federal government’s liberal use of section 107 in recent years has set a feverish pace for state intervention against workers; a pace which will likely be emboldened by the Canada Industrial Relations Board’s recent ruling on the provision’s constitutionality. But it isn’t just the federal government which is enthusiastic to break strikes: provincial governments have taken initiative to get in on the action. A relevant case was the education support workers’ strike in 2022, which Ontario’s Doug Ford government attempted to end with a bill invoking Section 33 of the charter, also known as the notwithstanding clause. While section 33 has been used in many ways historically, the precedent that it could be used to break a strike remains to be set. This is what the Ford government tried to do in 2022.  CUPE’s response was to continue their strike in defiance of the order, within days winning the demand that the Ford government rescind the bill which union leaders warned was a “Pandora’s box.”  Preparations for a general strike By the time of the bill’s announcement, the Alberta teachers’ strike had already seen several impressive demonstrations by the ATA, which represents public school teachers. On the 23rd over 30,000 teachers, parents, and students rallied in protest outside of the Alberta legislative building. With the bill’s passing on Tuesday morning, ATA president Jason Schilling stated that the union intends to “follow the law,” but to launch a legal challenge to the government’s use of Section 33. What exactly they plan to do if they lose this legal battle remains unclear.  With the ATA stepping to the legal sideline, students, workers, and unions are stressing the need to turn public support for the teachers into massive collective action. The Alberta Student-Walkout Association is expected to hold sit-ins and walkouts in protest of the legislation across at least 45 schools on Thursday.  Since the UCP’s announcement of the bill last week, the Common Front have been threatening an “unprecedented response” to the use of section 33.  Speaking today at a press conference, Gil McGowan declared the need to build a movement “so big and widely popular that we are all defended” with the stated goal of “toppling the government.”  He stated that all unions represented by the AFL and the Common Front will begin engaging their rank and file on the issue and gauging interest in strike action against the bill.  UFCW Local 401, representing 32,000 Albertan workers, has already publicized the results of a membership poll showing 69% of workers are ready for a general strike. McGowan stated that it would take time for the Common Front to prepare for such an action.

L’article Alberta teachers return to work after yet another government intervention est apparu en premier sur The North Star.

From The North Star via This RSS Feed.