More than 740,000 students head back to class in Alberta after teacher strike ends

It’s going to be a busy day for Alberta schools today as more than 740,000 students are set to return to class following the end of a provincewide teachers strike.

Classes are resuming after Premier Danielle Smith’s government invoked the Charter’s notwithstanding clause to order 51,000 teachers back to work.

Students have been out for more than three weeks, and Smith has said the strike has caused irreparable harm and that the government had no other choice.

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School boards have advised parents they expect classes to be up and running, but there may be delays and changes to everything from diploma exams to extracurricular activities.

The Alberta Teachers’ Association has said teachers will go back to class and won’t work to rule, but calls the use of the notwithstanding clause a gross violation of rights.

A coalition of Alberta unions is set to announce steps to fight the use of the notwithstanding clause, saying if governments use it to solve labour disputes, they have no bargaining power left.

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‘This is trampling on workers rights’: Labour groups vow to fight Alberta’s use of notwithstanding clause in teachers strike