Kris Sims is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.Alberta taxpayers should not be on the hook to pay teachers to be on strike.Teachers are reportedly not being paid by their union while they are out on the picket line.There’s an old union boss trick where they tell their rank-and-file members to tough it out with no paycheques because they will get a big signing bonus from the government when they ink a deal and that will pay for their strike..STIRLING: ‘Climate Barbie’ and the cost of virtue-signalling .That can’t happen this time.Alberta Premier Danielle Smith needs to make it clear to the Alberta teachers’ union that taxpayers will not be spending money on a signing bonus.Taxpayers expect teachers to be at work with schools open. If teachers refuse to go to work, they shouldn’t get paid by taxpayers. Who knows why the union doesn’t have a big strike fund of cash to pay their members? But that’s the union’s problem and Alberta taxpayers shouldn’t have to pay for it..Smith can look to what happened in Ottawa for inspiration.Former prime minister Justin Trudeau forced federal taxpayers to pay for a big government union to go on strike.In 2023, the Public Service Alliance of Canada union bosses mooched about $300 million off taxpayers and got former prime minister Trudeau’s government to pay their members lump sums of about $2,500 each as a signing bonus.Eight days’ worth of salary for a striking PSAC employee receiving $75,000 is an estimated $2,300. That means the $2,500 lump sum payment covered the entire eight days that PSAC employees were on strike. .THOMAS: Calgary's mayor has just one vote, councillors have 14.Smith needs to make sure that doesn’t happen in Alberta.In an interesting switch, Prime Minister Mark Carney isn’t letting that happen with Canada Post employees.Canada Post has reportedly taken the option for a contract signing bonus off the table during its negotiations with the striking members of the Canadian Union of Postal Workers.If an effectively insolvent federal Crown corporation under Carney’s government can refuse a signing bonus for CUPW in Ottawa, Smith can stand firm on no signing bonuses for striking Alberta teachers..More than 50,000 teachers are on strike for the first time in 23 years, throwing about 700,000 kids out of their classrooms and sending parents scrambling for childcare and tutors.Smith said if the teachers had accepted her government’s latest offer, it would have made them the highest-paid teachers in Western Canada.A new teacher would start at about $71,000 per year according to the rejected offer..HORTON: Exiling Jordan Peterson is a Canadian failure of conscience.That’s the average salary for the average worker in Alberta, which includes everyone from brain surgeons to fast food workers.New Alberta teachers would get to start their careers there.Plus, teachers get benefits, lots of holidays, and solid job security.A teacher with seven years on the job would be paid more than $100,000 per year under the rejected deal..Smith was also pledging to hire 3,000 more teachers and 1,500 classroom assistants.But the Alberta Teachers’ Association rejected that offer with 89.5% of the vote.Teachers deserve to know this: Alberta is on track to have a $84.3 billion debt this year, with interest costs of $3 billion for taxpayers..OLDCORN: Ottawa shouldn’t ask the Supreme Court to rewrite the notwithstanding clause.There’s no more money in the pot.Smith did the right thing when she told parents they would get their money back while their children are locked out of school during the teachers’ strike..Now she needs to tell the Alberta teachers union bosses that there is no signing bonus on the table.While missing entire paycheques might not be a big deal for older teachers with 30 years on the job and their houses paid off, for the 26-year-old teacher staring down a big new mortgage payment, having zero cash flow is a serious problem..EDITORIAL: It’s time to hit the reset button on Canada’s broken immigration system.Those teachers who can’t go weeks with no pay should be asking their union bosses some hard questions about how they’re going to cover their bills.Because here’s something Smith needs to make clear: Taxpayers aren’t going to pay for picketing.Kris Sims is the Alberta Director for the Canadian Taxpayers Federation.
