October 20, 2025
RED FM News Desk
A labour relations expert is warning that the Alberta government’s threat to legislate striking teachers back to work could deepen divisions rather than resolve them, as roughly 750,000 students enter a third week without classes.
Jason Foster, a professor of labour relations at Athabasca University, says forcing teachers back could worsen the situation in the long term.
“So instead of trying to resolve the conflict, they could use a get-out-of-jail-free card to just bring an end to this whole thing,” Foster said in a phone interview Sunday. “Governments do this because it solves their immediate political problem. But what it does is it just creates more problems. It means the issues and concerns of the teachers go unresolved. They feel even less respected, less heard.”
Premier Danielle Smith said last week that teachers can “fully expect” to be ordered back to work if the strike continues by Oct. 27, when the legislative assembly reconvenes.
“We think that three weeks is about the limit of what students can handle before we’d start seeing irreparable harm,” Smith said Friday.
The province’s 2,500 schools have been closed since Oct. 6, when 51,000 teachers walked off the job. The Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) and the government have remained deadlocked over key issues including wages, class sizes, and supports for students with complex needs.
Finance Minister Nate Horner said Friday that students are paying the price for the union’s refusal to accept an earlier government offer and its decision to reject enhanced mediation and keep schools closed.
“Students have missed out on valuable learning, sports activities, personal development, social interaction, and more,” Horner said.
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