The Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) has provided a lockout notice to the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA). The lockout will begin Oct. 9 at 1 p.m.
“This is a routine process employers use in response to unions going on strike, which the ATA did on October 6,” a TEBA-issued statement reads.
“We saw earlier this year with rotating strikes by educational assistants the tremendous uncertainty it created for school divisions, parents and students who were given very short notice about where strike activity would be taking place.”
The lockout is said to provide predictability and stability for students.
The statement says that if the ATA has no intention of providing stability, then the lockout will not impact current strike actions which removed teachers from all classrooms across the province.
According to ATA President Jason Schilling, the lockout was not a surprise.
“The government’s lockout was expected, as it’s a response to teachers going on strike. The Alberta Teachers’ Association and government officials remain in talks,” Schilling said in a statement.
