Thirteen thousand Alberta teachers walked off the job in seventeen different school districts on February 4, 2002 to back up their demands for increased provincial funding for public education. Another seven thousand teachers in five school districts can be on strike with 72 hours notice.

The strike, which covers the province from Lethbridge to Fort McMurray, is currently affecting over 235,000 students. The Edmonton public and Calgary Catholic school systems are on strike - while the Calgary public school system is one of those in strike position once 72 hours notice is given.

At the heart of the issue is the provincial government’s attempt to hamstring School Boards ability to negotiate new contracts by ‘budgeting’ 6% increases in salaries for teachers and 6.5% for other educational improvements over the next two years.

"Since the government took away the ability of School Boards to control school property taxes, they now have complete control over educational funding," said Alberta Federation of Labour President Les Steel. "They are now using that control to undermine teachers’ ability to negotiate adequate wages and working conditions."

The government cut school property taxes by $135 million in January, 2001. The government has also cut personal income taxes by over $1 billion and corporate taxes by $1 billion over four years.

"We know that workloads, classroom sizes and program support are huge problems in our schools," said Steel. "Inadequate teachers’ salaries are also an issue."

Steel notes that MLA’s awarded themselves over 17% in salary increases since last April, and Provincial employees negotiated a contract that gave them between 12.3 % and 15.7% over two years with added adjustments worth up to 3%.

"Albertans have to ask themselves why the government wants to treat teachers as second-class citizens while they give themselves and their own employees handsome raises, " said Steel.

"They seem to want a fight with teachers," noted Steel, "but it is our children’s future they are sabotaging – and our lives they are disrupting by their actions."

Steel reaffirmed the labour movement’s support of striking teachers. "We are behind the teachers one hundred percent," said Steel. "They are right, the government is wrong – it’s that simple!"