Alberta Teachers' Association Labour Action

Overview

Current Situation

October 14, 2025: Classes in Red Deer Public Schools remain suspended and schools are currently closed due to labour action by the Alberta Teachers' Association.

On September 29, 2025 results of the Alberta Teachers' Association Ratification Vote were announced. This ratification vote was the process used for teachers to vote ‘yes' or ‘no’ to the memorandum of agreement reached on September 24, 2025.

Teachers voted ‘no’ to the agreement presented. 

New Developments:

  • The ATA and TEBA are expected to resume bargaining on Tuesday, October 14, 2025.

  • Commencing on October 9, 2025 at 1 PM, the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) will implement a reactive lockout across all school divisions in Alberta, in accordance with the requirements of the Labour Relations Code. The purpose of the lockout is to provide consistency for students and families during the strike and to support continued bargaining between TEBA and the ATA.

  • Because the agreement was not accepted by teachers, a strike commenced on October 6, 2025.

  • As a result, classes in Red Deer Public Schools were suspended and schools were closed beginning October 6, 2025.

Bargaining Process

Bargaining between TEBA and the ATA occurs centrally at the provincial level. This means that items like teacher salaries are set through the provincial collective agreement, not through individual school boards. Local bargaining between Red Deer Public Schools and Red Deer City ATA Local 60 can only commence once this process has been completed.

We hope that TEBA and ATA are able to conclude the bargaining process as soon as possible so that a new collective agreement can be reached.​

Have questions?

Who to call?

Government initiatives to support parents

In response to the impending October 6, 2025 labour action by the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA), the Alberta government announced new initiatives to support students and parents.

Parent Payment

To help ease the extra costs families may face while children are home during labour action, we’re introducing a parent payment program.

This support will be available to parents and guardians of students aged 12 and under who attend a public, separate or francophone school affected by the disruption. Eligible parents and guardians would receive approximately $150 per child for each week of labour action.

The payments will be made monthly, commencing October 31 and will be retroactive to October 6.

Applications will be available through the Alberta.ca platform. Further details, including an instructional video on the parent support payment, will be coming soon.

Parent Toolkit

To give families flexibility during the labour disruption, Alberta Education and Childcare has created a free toolkit that parents can use to help support their child’s independent learning when schools close.

The toolkit provides weekly resources that follow the K to 12 curriculum. Resources are available in English, French and French Immersion.

The toolkit includes materials for two weeks of learning. Additional weeks of learning materials will be added as needed. 

Download the toolkits at new.learnalberta.ca.

Additional Supports

Additional supports can be found here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Teachers and the Alberta Government have been unable to reach an agreement on a teacher collective agreement. There are two phases of teacher collective bargaining. The first, and current phase, happens at the provincial level. Once a provincial agreement is reached, collective bargaining at the local level will commence. Red Deer Public Schools is not directly involved in the current phase of teacher bargaining at the provincial level. 

It is unclear how long the strike will last. The Division is committed to providing timely updates as information becomes available.

All Division property, including laptops, tablets and chromebooks must remain at the school during a strike or lockout. Your school administration will have a process for the collection of these devices during the 72 hour notice period.

Students may take textbooks and library books home during the strike. 

Schools will be closed to students during a strike.

All personal property that a student wishes to access during a strike should be removed from the school during the 72 hour notice period. Schools will coordinate opportunities for students to clear out lockers and desks.

Parents and guardians can contact the school during school hours. School Admin Support and Classified Staff will be at the school and can arrange a time to retrieve forgotten belongings.

Schools will be closed to students during a strike. Please watch for further information about access to services.

Student bus passes will still be active during a strike. 

All RDPSD technology accounts will remain accessible to students during the strike. This includes Gmail, Google Drive, Windows Log in, PowerSchool, and Learning Services Resources. 

We have a number of free resources on our Red Deer Public website that you can access here.

We have a number of free resources on our Red Deer Public website that you can access here.

Work Experience and Dual Credit will continue off-site during a strike. Parents with questions regarding these placements or programming should contact Red Deer Public Schools Central Services at 403-343-1405

The Division will be issuing this communication to parents during the Strike Notice period and will provide timely updates as information changes. All Division communications to families can also be viewed on the Red Deer Public website here.

Name/URL

Grade Levels/ Subject

Description

Zorbits/Mathia

K-6

Math fact and fluence games for grades K-6.

Libby - Public Library App

K to 12

Free Online Reading - A Public Library card is required.

Mrs. Emerson's Reading Library  

K to 6

Links to Free Online Reading Resources

New Learn Alberta 

K to 6

Access to Free Online Reading Resources

Nessy Reading

1 to 3

Access through District Account - Online Reading Platform

Dreamscape

4 & 5

Access through District Account - Online Reading Platform

Read-Along with PBS KIDS! 

K to 3

Read-alouds on YouTube

Boukili   

1-2

Boukili offers a wide variety of illustrated books for students in French Immersion. It is easy to create a parent account and explore the books for free! 

Tumble books 

1-6

Tumble books are available for free with a Red Deer Public Library card. They have hundreds of books in both French and English that are available online. 

We understand that families are concerned about school fees during the current job action. At this time, we are not in a position to process refunds. Once the strike has concluded and we have a clearer picture of the overall impact, we will revisit school fee refund requests.

Factors to be considered:

  • Uncertainty of duration: Until we know how long the strike will last, it is not possible to determine the full impact on the programming that school fees support.
  • Curricular obligations remain: Even after the strike ends, our teachers and schools will still be responsible for meeting the curricular objectives that these fees help support. The extent of the impact cannot be known until after instruction resumes.
  • Perspective on cost: To put it in context, our comprehensive school fee averages about 85 cents per student per day. If the strike is resolved in a short period of time, the cost of processing widespread refunds — including banking and administrative fees — would exceed the value of the refund itself, putting additional strain on the division’s budget which in turn has an impact on your child.

Please know this matter is very important to us. Once the strike has concluded and we have a clearer picture of the overall impact, we will revisit school fee refund requests.

  • Salvation Army - 403-346-2251
    • Food Hampers & Daily Bread Program
  • Red Deer Food Bank - 403-342-5355
    • Food Hampers
    • 10, 7429 49 Ave. Monday - Friday 8:45-11:45 AM & 12:45-3:45 PM
  • Red Deer Food Map
  • The Mustard Seed - 587-457-5473
    • Community Meals
    • 6002 54 Ave. Monday, Wednesday & Friday 5 PM

Communication from Red Deer Public Schools

Division communications sent out to date:

Click HERE for Family Messages

Click HERE for Staff Messages

Click HERE for Family Messages in Additional Languages