Hon. Danielle Smith
Premier of Alberta
307 Legislature Building
10800 – 97 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta T5K 2B6
Dear Premier Smith,
On behalf of the thousands of workers represented by the Confederation of Canadian Unions (CCU) across our country, we write to express our strongest condemnation of your government’s unprecedented decision to invoke the notwithstanding clause to force 51,000 Alberta teachers back to work, and to impose a new four-year contract that 90 percent of teachers had already voted to reject.
Your government’s decision represents a grave violation of fundamental democratic rights — the right to collective bargaining and the right to strike — and it sets a dangerous precedent for all working people in Alberta and across Canada.
The CCU stands in solidarity with the members of the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA). Their fight is not only for fair wages, better working conditions, and respect for the vital work they perform, it is a fight for the basic rights that form the bedrock of labour relations in any democratic society. Your government’s actions have undermined these rights in a way that is both unacceptable and deeply alarming.
The right to bargain collectively and the right to withdraw labour are not privileges that governments can grant or revoke at will. They are internationally recognized human rights, affirmed by conventions of the International Labour Organization (ILO), and are enshrined in the principles of freedom and equality that Canada claims to uphold.
Teachers are not asking for special treatment. They are demanding fairness, respect, and recognition for the essential role they play in society. Every day, Alberta’s teachers dedicate themselves to the intellectual and emotional development of more than 700,000 students. They nurture curiosity, teach critical thinking, and build the foundations for the next generation of citizens, workers, and leaders. Yet despite this immense responsibility, they are increasingly overworked, underpaid, and undervalued.
When teachers, after exhausting every effort to negotiate in good faith, choose to exercise their right to strike, it is not a decision made lightly. It is a last resort — a signal that the government has failed to listen and to bargain honestly. To order them back to work is an insult to their professionalism, their commitment, and their rights as workers.
The notwithstanding clause was never intended to be used as a weapon against working people. It was designed as a rare constitutional tool, to be used only in exceptional circumstances, not as a blunt instrument to suppress legitimate labour action. The fact that your government has chosen to use it to silence educators — people who dedicate their lives to teaching the values of fairness, critical inquiry, and civic responsibility — is particularly galling.
The CCU has long warned of the growing trend of governments across Canada undermining workers’ rights through back-to-work legislation, wage restraint laws, and court challenges. By using the notwithstanding clause to override constitutional protections for freedom of association and collective bargaining, you have gone too far.
Premier Smith, your government claims to support “freedom.” Yet freedom cannot exist in a society where workers are denied the ability to stand up for themselves. True freedom includes economic freedom — the ability of working people to shape the conditions of their labour through solidarity, negotiation, and, when necessary, collective action. The notwithstanding clause is being used here not to protect freedom, but to suppress it.
We urge you to change course, to end this assault on rights and freedoms, and to choose dialogue over dictation. The eyes of the entire labour movement — and indeed, the nation — are watching Alberta. The choices made now will define your government’s legacy for decades to come.
Sincerely,
Shawn Campbell
President, Confederation of Canadian Unions
president@ccu-csc.ca
ccu-csc.ca
CC: Minister of Education and Childcare Demetrios Nicolaides
Minister of Jobs, Economy, Trade and Immigration Joseph Schow
Alberta NDP Leader Naheed Nenshi
