Alberta is now a long step closer to one of the biggest strikes in its history.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association gave notice Monday that if no deal is reached with the province, a strike will begin Oct. 6.

Fifty-one thousand teachers could put down textbooks. Classrooms would empty across every public, Catholic and francophone school board, affecting about 770,000 students.

This would be far bigger than the 2002 strike that involved about 20,000 teachers.

That strike led the government to strip local boards of bargaining power and create a provincewide negotiation system.

Ironically, a decision taken more than 20 years ago makes a universal strike possible today.

A full-scale, lasting strike is unthinkable for a generation of students who have already suffered through the grim closu

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