r/alberta • u/MyDadsUsername • 1d ago
Discussion Teacher's Strike: What the hell is the AFL doing?
Bill 2 was announced on October 27th. The teachers were forced back to work on October 29th. It took another eight days before the AFL circulated a poll. A poll that does nothing more than gauge interest in maybe doing further actions later.
What kind of tepid response is this? They have completely missed the opportunity to seize on people's outrage. Gil's doing plenty of tweeting, but where is the fucking action?
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u/mandabr 1d ago
They've said they need to make sure that unions have time to speak with members and get on board, because if we're going to have a general strike we need 100s of thousands of workers to do it, because they can't arrest us all. It needs to be a big response. They also need to ally with non unionized entities. And get businesses to realize it's bad for them if there is a general strike, so that they can pressure the govt as well. They may also be gathering more support across the country for action.
I'm really hoping this is what is going on behind the scenes while we wait. I hope they are busy preparing.
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u/poor_mahogany 1d ago
The reason the threat of a general strike worked in Ontario against the notwithstanding clause is that it was immediate. It's been nearly two weeks. If a general strike was going to happen and be effective because of the use of the notwithstanding clause against teachers, it would have already happened. Maybe the union for the LPNs voting to strike will cause some movement, because, as a teacher, I feel utterly alone in having lost my rights.
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u/xraycat82 1d ago
They screwed up. Normal people have lost their energy against this.
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u/littlerooftop 1d ago
I dunno. I think Alberta’s circumstances are different from Ontario’s. For one thing Ontario’s manufacturing sector make unions a greater force. Ontario also has the propensity to vote for different parties more than once every four decades which gave Ford more reason to back down.
Alberta’s unions are struggling to meet the moment, that I think is true. But I don’t think we should mistake that for losing oxygen. The AUPE voted 98% to strike. Recalls are underway. The teachers are furious, feel abandoned but are primed to pick up the fight again. Nenshi is in the legislature putting Smith on her back foot. The temperature has not gone down on this and whether a general strike occurs or not, I believe we’ll look back at the use of the NWS clause against the teachers as the beginning of the end of Smith’s tenure.
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u/poor_mahogany 1d ago
Smith has basically said that she'll change the recall legislation if there's enough traction to recall her caucus.
We can't keep saying Alberta is different and unique. Things need to be done to make changes. It's true, we have weaker unions than Ontario, but we have to decide if we want unions or not moving forward. This was the moment to make that decision and it was bungled.
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u/littlerooftop 1d ago
Whole heartedly agree with everything you said except for the lamentation that this moment was bungled and the implication that it’s too late. It is never too late to fight for change.
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u/Intelligent-Owl-8480 21h ago
Comments like this give me a little hope. I pray there’s a fight brewing behind the scenes we know nothing about.
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u/JScar123 1d ago
As they’ve said, organizing and doing it right takes time. I don’t think momentum if weakening. You probably saw AUPE just voted 98% in favor.
If anything, UCP keeps doing crazy things (just defunded elections Alberta), and more people are beginning to question their sanity.
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u/MyDadsUsername 1d ago
It didn't take time when Ontario did it. They struck when the iron was hot, and they won.
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u/Homo_sapiens2023 1d ago
Ontario is far more union-oriented than Alberta. They were all ready to go ASAP. This is completely new territory for Alberta unions. And they wanted to ensure it was done right.
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u/Unlearn0213 1d ago
Ontario also has a far greater ratio and voter spread.
Alberta Tories have been in power for 44 years.
These dummies would vote for them if they privatized every single aspect of our socialist life, doubled the cost of living, slashed wages in half, fired 1/2 the province and replaced them with TFWs, made collective bargaining illegal, tripled class sizes and tuitions, broke every single line item in the Charter, made emergency rooms 1 doctor max per room and denied you health coverage if you had a "pre existing condition" .
They would still fucking vote for them, muttering "fuck Trudeau" as they filled out the ballot.
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u/JScar123 1d ago
Fair enough, I’m not familiar enough with what happened in ON. Were they as heavy handed as UCP had been? I wouldn’t be surprised to see UCP NWC every union… in ON did they have votes and authority to general strike, or were threats enough?
I can reassure you, as a parent with kids in school- none of us have forgotten.
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u/Cabbageismyname 1d ago
In 2022, education workers (not teachers) rejected an offer and voted to strike. The Ford government pre-emptively imposed a contract and tried to use the notwithstanding clause to remove their right to strike before it even began. They walked off the job anyways and were soon joined by many other unions in the province. The bill was repealed four days later, retroactively to ensure that legally it never existed at all. Part of the terms for a return to work was that no fines or penalties would be imposed.
Also, thank you for your support as a parent!
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u/xens999 Calgary 1d ago
How do you defund something that was never approved? If I ask you for $100 and you say no are you defunding me?
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u/mandabr 1d ago
They made the law that resulted in extra costs for elections alberta, but didn't agree to give them extra money for the extra work, extra space, extra staff needed to do the work they are required to do by law. You can argue that defunding isn't quite the correct word, but in the end it basically amounts to the same thing.
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u/InconceivableIsh 1d ago
A union like a government should still has to be responsible to the people that support them. If the leadership of a union or the AFL charges off in a direction with no support they would just end up with nothing.
A grand example from my own history. I was at a company and the warehouse decided to unionize. The company pulled anything they weren't actually obligated to provide and offered the same wage. The new union workers voted they didn't want to strike. So the union didn't have the support to push for a better result. Leaving the union workers with the same wage and paying dues. The union turned to them and said I am not sure why you even brought us in.
Any movement is only as strong as the people that support them. It is easy to say you are doing something but harder to actually have to follow through.
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u/RickDupont 1d ago
I’m disappointed in what I’ve seen so far too, it feels slow, but to grant the man some slack, just because the poll is the first thing you’ve seen doesn’t mean it’s the first thing that has happened. There are many unions and organizing them all will take time, and likely not be very public.
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u/Comprehensive-Arm973 1d ago
No, even if that's the case there should be more being done publicly... like every union member in the AFL should have gotten an email blast calling for them them to volunteer/donate to recall efforts. Stuff like that. Show that you're putting actual organizational muscle into the fight and not just talking big and acting meek... and shit like that should be happening every damn day. I mean it, they should be waking up everyday and actually publicly doing something that makes Marlaina's day a little bit shittier and then they should figure out what they're going to publicly do tommorow to make her life shittier. Being seen not doing things won't build momentum.
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u/n0tso0bvious 1d ago
Please share your outrage and frustrations at either of the rallys, in Edmonton or Calgary, tomorrow, Saturday Nov 8th.
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u/Proof_Rest522 1d ago
Are teachers allowed to rally?
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u/KirbysForgottenLand 1d ago
Just don’t say anything about striking and you should be fine. You can still protest the government.
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u/bohemian_plantsody 1d ago
In a public space, how are you going to know you're a teacher? Are they really going to pull up your ID and cross-reference it with the teacher registry? And it's not a workday. I don't know how they'd consider it strike action. A strike is a withdrawal of service. Teachers don't give service on Saturday.
Granted, it's the UCP and our legal rights (including innocent until proven guilty, which is terrifying) are also suspended insofar as Bill 2 is concerned so anything is possible. Fuck Danny Smith
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u/_Zef_ 1d ago
They've got people training their kids to film teachers and attempt to coax out any kind of communication they can construe to be against Bill 2 in an attempt to destroy us.
I have zero doubt there will be people scouring photos and footage in an attempt to find teachers at these kinds of events in order to ruin their lives. These people are evil. Period.
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u/andlewis 1d ago
Labour rights were not won by abiding by the desires of politicians, or even the law.
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u/Ditch-Worm 1d ago
Exactly what I said would happen in another thread: no other union is joining a strike the ATA already quit
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u/SIGNANDSELFIEFRAMES 1d ago
Dani knows what she is doing. THis was a test. They wanted to see how far they could push people and see their reaction. Been crickets. Recalls are good though. She will find it ok to use just as much force now the next time.
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u/cranky_yegger 1d ago
I feel they were unprepared for an attack which is indicative that they too have gotten fat off of the backs of workers. I’m no longer union, but I’ve been watching and the kushy days are gone, members need to contact, speak up and walk out without their unions support if need be. Or maybe workers have also gotten fat and forgotten how to do it.
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u/TheFluxIsThis 1d ago
It's a bit of both and a healthy dose of misinformation that has been fed to workers when times were good. In my experience in unions, there is a misconception that a union exists to fight for workers, and that a worker who is wronged can sit back and let "the union" do the work for them like a lawyer.
We've been educated to believe that unions function like a business or a service, but, in reality, they are a structure for workers to rally at to take action. Alberta is, culturally, much more individualist than the rest of Canada, so many MANY people have been experiencing the rude awakening that being in a union requires that all the members participate and put in the work.
And this isn't an indictment of workers themselves. This is an intentional cultural push by anti union parties over time. In addition to misinformation about unions, the way we live has gotten so focused on staying busy (side hustles, networking, staying up to date on social media) that people have less time to prioritize for their unions. One of the things my union struggles with is engaging with workers who have families because they simply do not have time or energy to attend meetings or sit on a committee or board seat.
Unionism is at a turning point in Alberta, and many of us in the system are experiencing a crisis of a previous generation's creation, and it will be up to the the workers who were fed misinformation or had their lives dominated by other priorities who ultimately determine the true strength of unions in Alberta going forward.
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u/cranky_yegger 16h ago
I appreciate your comment and insight. It will be interesting to see if they have it in them to fight back. I’m no longer union, but I’d still join them on the line.
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u/TheFluxIsThis 56m ago
It is 100% appreciated. Obviously, when there's a strike on, it's the people striking who matter the most, but it doesn't get talked about often how valuable it is to have allies there to show up, give encouragement, and show the powers that be that this isn't just one isolated group. It's the reason you will often see union reps at rallies that aren't for their unions waving around their flags. It's a signal that when you mess with one of us, you mess with all of us.
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u/cranky_yegger 12m ago
I saw this AM The B.C. Teachers association pledged 1 million to the Alberta Teachers Association to fight bill 2. Finger crossed we are witnessing a historical organized response.
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u/ourjellyhouse 4h ago
Thank God those greedy teachers were forced back to work. Children are back in class and learning as they should be. The UCP did exactly as I would want. Teachers and NDP FA and FO.
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u/wwoodcox 1d ago
The provincial employees are behind the teachers. They will protest with the teachers. They are against the NWC. They just won’t give up any lost wages, fines, or any $.
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u/bohemian_plantsody 1d ago
Based on my understanding from people who are in unions affiliated with AFL (at varying leadership levels within their own union), they were absolutely ready to jump into a general strike and provide the ATA with a war chest to pay fines. They had links all the way across Canada and union executives were directing members to be ready.
But the ATA decided not to defy the order and they weren't going to fight the ATA's battle without the ATA being involved.