U of A students rally in support of teachers and against Bill 2

"Bill 2 is not a negotiation, it is not a compromise, it's a coercion," Education Students’ Association President says.

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Hundreds of University of Alberta students and faculty rallied at Main Quad on November 5 against Bill 2, the Back to School Act, and the province’s use of the notwithstanding clause. The rally was organized by the Education Students’ Association (ESA).

Members of the Association of Academic Staff at the University of Alberta (AASUA), the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA), the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), U of A Non-Academic Staff Association (NASA), and several other local unions also attended.

Passed on October 28, Bill 2 ended the three-week teachers’ strike by ordering teachers back to work. It also imposed a collective agreement and prevents further job action by teachers.

Quinn Benders, president of NASA, described Bill 2 as a “sledgehammer swung directly at the foundation of our charter rights in this province and in this country.”

“It’s not a policy disagreement. It’s a fight for our rights, for our unions, and for democracy in this province,” Benders said.

“We didn’t come here to mourn the loss of our rights. We came here to mobilize them.”

“An attack on our province’s teachers touches the lives of students,” Smitka says

In her speech, Kristine Smitka, AASUA vice-president, emphasized the connection AASUA members have to education. Smitka noted that the ATA strike has directly impacted U of A faculty of education students by interrupting their practicums.

“This is just one example of the way in which kindergarten to grade 12 education and post-secondary education are intimately sutured,” she said. “Therefore, an attack on our province’s teachers touches the lives of students, and it touches the lives of educators in colleges and universities.”

Additionally, Smitka said AASUA members feel connected to the ATA as “the attack on their collective bargaining rights, including their right to strike, is an attack on all unions who are reeling with the uncertainty caused by the use of the notwithstanding clause.”

The rally followed the release of a statement by ESA written in opposition to the province’s use of the notwithstanding clause. ESA President Antony Salib also spoke at the event.

“The notwithstanding clause is supposed to be a rare, last resort tool, not a shortcut to silence workers,” Salib said. “Bill 2 is not a negotiation, it is not a compromise, it’s a coercion.”

“When the government attacks teachers, they attack education as well, and when they attack education, they attack the future.”