The Alberta teachers' strike began Monday and is still ongoing, and there is some information to note: "Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA) does not have a strike fund." This is according to John Hilton O'Brien, Executive Director of Parents for Choice, who says, "The special emergency fund that the ATA would normally be taking strike funds out of is only $19 million.""We're looking at a strike fund that's roughly 10% of the size that a well-functioning union would maintain."Alberta teachers are expected to cover their financials themselves."Well, why is it so low?" Hilton O'Brien asks."Part of the reason is that in 2022, the Alberta Teachers Association siphoned sixteen million dollars out of that fund to create what they called the Defence Advocacy Fund, which is basically a political slush fund."Wow — what an eye opener, eh? Delve deeper into the ongoing strike and the financial woes of the ATA by checking out the video below....In the ATA's "Central Strike FAQ," it says teachers are expected to "maintain an emergency fund" for "several years."On top of the lack of strike funds, which teachers do not receive,"it's costing your average teacher $400 or $500 a day for this strike.""And if I were a teacher, I would be giving serious thought to impeaching the leadership of the ATA that dragged me into this," Hilton-O'Brien states. Not to mention the millions in operational costs.In the ATA's 2022 Annual Report, they spent $32.16 million on all their operating expenditures, and similarly, in their 2023 Annual Report, they spent over $34 million..This is comes after the members of the ATA rejected the government's deal by an almost 90% margin.Finance Minister Nate Horner had confirmed the ATA presented an offer to the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA), and both sides had previously agreed to move forward with a tentative deal, before it was rejected by teachers. “The ATA’s rejected deal would have provided tremendous investments in classroom supports to help alleviate population growth and classroom complexity pressures with the hiring of 3,000 new teachers and over 1,500 new educational assistants in public, separate and francophone classrooms. This would have been in addition to the hiring required to replace retiring and departing teachers,” stated Minister Horner in a statement reacting to the rejection.“The deal also would have provided a general wage increase of 12% over the four-year term, as well as a wage grid unification which would have provided more than 95% of teachers even larger wage increases up to 17%."."These adjustments would have resulted in greater salary increases for newer teachers to help address recruitment and retention issues. Increases in northern incentives and substitute teacher pay would also have been secured through the new deal," stated Horner.Another $8.6 billion was offered to spend for building and renovating more than 130 schools, and the government had committed to hiring 3,000 new teachers to reduce class sizes, and implementing a 12% salary increase over four years.The Western Standard has reached out to the ATA.Check out the full video by clicking here.
