Join ULFA members as they wear Red for Ed, every Thursday from now on.
At a special general meeting last week, ULFA members voted unanimously to support Alberta’s teachers in the conflict with the provincial government by wearing red clothing to work every Thursday beginning November 6.
In doing so, we will be joining other unions, such as the AUPE and faculty associations across the province, as they protest the use of the Notwithstanding Clause and other extreme legal measures by the government to force teachers to accept a settlement they had rejected previously.
Wearing Red for Ed every Thursday from now on is a small step, but a powerful one: the government and government-friendly columnists have suggested that anger over Bill 2, the legislation used to bring the teachers’ strike to an end, will soon blow over. By wearing red every Thursday members of ULFA and other unions will demonstrate that this is not true. We will not let this legislation stand, and we will support the Alberta Teachers Association and its membership as they continue to fight for all of our rights.
Wearing Red for Ed every Thursday is also not the only step ULFA members will be taking. We will be meeting again later this week to plan additional activities. At other Faculty Associations and unions, members have done everything from holding rallies to building the infrastructure for province-wide protest.
But those kinds of plans take time. Wearing Red for Ed every Thursday in the meantime is how we show that we are serious about continuing this fight.
Show your support for the teachers, your colleagues, and everybody this law threatens:
Wear Red for Ed every Thursday from November 6th on.
The background: Bill 2
The context for this action is Bill 2, legislation passed by the provincial government last week that forced an end to a three-week teacher’s strike.
In contrast to most back-to-work legislation, this law did not send the dispute to arbitration. Instead, it imposed on the teachers a settlement they had rejected, twice before, by overwhelming numbers.
The imposition of this settlement was very likely unconstitutional. So, in order to protect this law from a certain court challenge, the government invoked the Notwithstanding Clause to remove protections for teachers from Sections 2 and 7 through 14 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It also exempted the law from challenges under the Alberta Human Rights Act and the Alberta Bill of rights.
These are not minor legal details. As a recent Op-ed in the Edmonton Journal pointed out, Sections 2 and 7 through 14 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms contain our core rights: freedom of expression, belief, and assembly, but also protection from arbitrary search and arrest and our right to security of person. The Alberta Human Rights Act protects us against racial and gender discrimination among many others.
These go far beyond what is needed to protect Bill 2 from challenge. And indeed the government introduced language into the law that explicitly protects it against complaints that it is acting in bad faith, engaging in unjust enrichment, or breaching its fiduciary duties. It prevents the courts from ruling against it or assessing damage for loss of income and property.
If this is allowed to stand, no union in any dispute in the province can engage in truly fair collective bargaining: a negotiation in which the choice is “accept management’s offer or lose your civil rights” is not a negotiation at all.
This is why we encourage you to wear red every Thursday from now on and make sure your voice is heard as ULFA members meet to discuss further actions.
