Statement on the Back to School Act and the Right to Strike
Posted on 10/27/2025
Today, the provincial government is expected to introduce legislation to force Alberta teachers back to work, and ram it through the Legislature in a single afternoon. This legislation may invoke the notwithstanding clause to override the Charter-protected right to strike, which would be an aggressive and unprecedented attack on workers’ rights in this province. The “Back to School Act” is simply unacceptable.
CSU 52 stands with Alberta teachers and with the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA). This is no longer just about the future of public education; it’s also about the future of union rights in Alberta. If a government is allowed to take away one union’s right to strike, it can do the same to any other.
Some members have called for CSU 52 to join a general strike in solidarity. We hear you. Your anger is justified, and your solidarity is so important. There are serious risks, though, in walking off the job without being in legal strike position. Individual members risk discipline or termination, and it could also expose CSU 52 to extreme legal and financial penalties that weaken our ability to defend you. CSU 52 is not authorizing any job action and we are not instructing members to refuse work.
While we cannot officially endorse illegal strike action, we are watching the situation closely and will be tracking how the wider labour movement responds. Even though we must be careful about risk, that does not mean we are standing down.
This is not a moment for silence. Here’s how you can apply legal pressure and stand in visible solidarity:
Show up. Attend rallies and demonstrations. Physical presence is key to making the extent of worker and public discontent known.
Contact your MLA, Premier Danielle Smith, and the Education Minister. Demand negotiation, not legislation, and condemn the use of the notwithstanding clause.
Stay loud and stay informed. Follow and share updates from the ATA, the Alberta Federation of Labour (AFL), and CSU 52.
Let me be absolutely clear. Legislation that crushes a legal strike is outrageous and using the notwithstanding clause to protect it from scrutiny would make a mockery of workers’ constitutional rights. If we do not act to protect them, the right to strike will become nothing more than a paper tiger.
We will not quietly accept the precedent that self-serving politicians can erase the right to strike in an afternoon. We stand with Alberta teachers, we stand with publicly funded education, and we stand with every union in this province that refuses to allow the UCP to legislate away its obligation to negotiate in good faith. If the UCP thinks it will be allowed to trample workers without resistance, it is badly mistaken.
In solidarity,
Bryce Jowett
President
Civic Service Union 52
Related: ATA Solidarity Statement (October 1, 2025)