EDMONTON — An Alberta judge ruled on Friday to deny the Alberta Teachers Association's request for an injunction to suspend Alberta's back-to-work legislation, which ended their 21-day strike by invoking the notwithstanding clause. The ATA argued that Bill 2 violates the teachers' rights, and the Government of Alberta did not properly invoke the notwithstanding clause. Therefore, the bill should be put on hold until their case can be heard in court. The judge agreed that the ATA had an argument and that there is a case for the case as a whole. However, the judge ruled that it would be better for students to remain in class in the months leading up to the trial. .Alberta's 51,000 teachers went on strike in October after being unable to reach an agreement with the Alberta government following the expiration of their contract. The UCP ultimately blocked strike three weeks after it began by legislating Bill 2 and the accompanying notwithstanding clause to impose a new contract on the teachers without their agreement, following weeks of negotiations that left a sizeable gap between the two sides. The ATA responded to the bill by filing a constitutional challenge, which is expected to be heard in September, but they also sought a temporary injunction to pause the bill prior to the hearing. Along with violating their right to strike, the ATA has argued that the Alberta government failed to properly apply the notwithstanding clause by retroactively imposing a contract the teachers had previously rejected.An injunction would have allowed the teachers to return to striking; they told the judge they would wait three weeks to allow for more contract negotiations with the provincial government before doing so. .The provincial government has said it did not take the decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause lightly, but believed the sides were growing further apart in negotiations, and that it was time for the strike and the harm it was causing to children and families to end. The contract in Bill 2 included a minimum of 12% pay raise for every teacher, a commitment to hire 3,000 new teachers and 1,500 education assistants over the next three years, and efforts to address classroom complexity. Budget 2026 committed a record $10.8 billion towards education in Alberta.
