Strike action: Alberta public education teachers will walk off job Oct. 6 if agreement not reached

Alberta’s public education teachers will walk off the job Oct. 6 if an agreement with the province is not reached during bargaining, the union representing teachers announced Wednesday morning.

Oct. 6 is the deadline to take job action after a strike mandate was granted to the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) in June.

The teachers, whose latest collective bargaining agreement ran out in August 2024, want higher wages to keep up with inflation.

The Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA), the provincial body that represents school boards in collective bargaining, has reportedly proposed a wage increase of 12 per cent over four years. It’s also reportedly committed to hiring 3,000 new teachers across the span of the renewed collective agreement.

Negotiations between the Alber