2025 ATA Negotiations

UPDATE: October 6, 2025

TEBA Issues Lockout Notice to Teachers

The Grande Yellowhead Public School Division (GYPSD) is providing this update regarding the ongoing labour dispute between the Teachers' Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) and the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA).

In response to the ATA's provincial strike, TEBA has issued a Notice of Lockout to the Association. Please note that other division employees are not affected by the lockout.

A lockout is a measure that an employer may initiate to prevent striking employees from adjusting or altering their current strike activities. The lockout will take effect at 1:00 p.m. on Thursday, October 9, 2025.

GYPSD administration continues to monitor the situation closely and is preparing contingency plans. We will provide further information to our staff, students, and families regarding the operational impact of this lockout as soon as it becomes available.

Please watch for further updates via our website and email notifications.

Labour Action Commencing October 6th , 2025

Based on the information the ATA and TEBA shared this week, teachers will commence full labour action on Monday, October 6. This labour action will impact all Grande Yellowhead Public School Division students from Kindergarten to Grade 12. 

Impact on School Operations

We ask that you do not send your child to school on October 6, 2025, or for the duration of the labour action.

While teachers are on strike all school-related activities will cease. This includes:

• instruction/ grading/ assessments/ online instruction/ student work
• field trips
• extracurricular activities
• athletics
• school clubs

We have five (5) schools where our Junior Kindergarten programs are run by non-ATA staff. These are only schools that Junior Kindergarten students can attend during the labour action. 

These Junior Kindergarten Programs are located at:

• Sheldon Coates - Grande Cache
• École Jasper Elementary - Jasper
• École Westhaven - Edson
• École Mountain View - Hinton
• Crescent Valley Elementary - Hinton

Important Information

Valuables and Belongings: Please ask your children to bring home any and all valuables and personal belongings.

Buses: During the strike buses will not be running; please do not have your children wait for buses.

School Fees: We understand you may have questions about fees for services: 

• During a strike, if a service you’ve paid for, like a local field trip, is cancelled, the money will be credited to your account.
• More information will be provided as soon as the full impact of the strike is known.

School Communication: During the strike, all school general phone lines and email inboxes will remain operational. If you need to reach out to your child’s school, please connect that way.

• Please be aware that many staff members will not be in the buildings, and it may take some time for someone to get back to you.
• Teachers and principals will not be available to communicate with families during the strike.

Government Supports

The provincial government announced a number of supports for families, including:

• Financial Support for parents with children 12 years of age and younger.
• Eligible parents or guardians would receive $30 per day, or $150 per week, per student, for the duration of the labour action. The first payment will be made on October 31.
• Payments may be used to offset additional costs like child care, educational supports like tutoring, or other activities to keep students engaged.
• More information about the application process will be available on the province’s website.

Learning supports for parents to assist with continued learning.

• Alberta Education and Childcare have created a free toolkit for parents to support their child’s learning in the event that schools are closed.
• The toolkit provides resources that follow the Grades K-12 curriculum. The resources are available in English, French and French immersion and focus on the core subjects of language arts, social studies, math and sciences.
• The resources, which will be available on the province’s website, will be updated weekly

Stay Connected

If a tentative settlement is reached, we will share information with parents, families and guardians through our website, and on the Division Facebook account.

Sincerely,

Kurt Scobie, Superintendent of Schools

September 29, 2025

September 12, 2025 UPDATE

Dear GYPSD Staff and Families,

I am writing to you today to inform you of potential upcoming labour action by the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA), which represents teachers and school administrators across our province, including those within our school division. The ATA has announced that it may begin labour action on October 6, 2025, if a new collective agreement is not reached with the Teachers Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA) by that date.

Potential labour action may include a full work stoppage, rotating strikes, or work-to-rule. In response, TEBA, which represents the province, may choose to enact a legal lockout. A lockout would also disrupt learning.

We encourage all families to begin preparing for potential disruptions to school operations, which could include schools being closed. Should strike action commence, classes, field trips and extracurricular activities for all students will be paused. Please arrange alternative care for your children should such a situation arise.

Until further notice, all regular school operations and learning will continue as scheduled.

We understand that this news may be concerning. Please know that we are committed to providing you with timely updates as negotiations progress. Any changes to our school operations will be communicated directly to you via email, our website, and other official communication channels. We also have a dedicated Labour Relations webpage where you can find the latest information.

As a reminder about the central bargaining process for teachers in Alberta: it is conducted at a provincial level between the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA), which represents school boards and the Government of Alberta, and the Alberta Teachers’ Association. Grande Yellowhead Public School Division is not directly involved in negotiations on central matters, such as teacher salaries.

We remain hopeful that a negotiated settlement can be reached that supports all students, staff, and families.

Thank you for your understanding and for your continued support of our staff and students.

Sincerely,

K. Scobie, Superintendent of Schools

August 27, 2025 Update: We understand our families and staff will likely have questions about the potential for labour action as we approach the start of the 2025-2026 school year. The ATA and TEBA have scheduled formal mediation for August 26-29, 2025. While we do not know what the outcome of these negotiations will be, we assure you we are committed to clear, consistent, and timely communication when available from the province to share with our stakeholders. 

GYPSD's school year is scheduled to begin Tuesday, September 2, 2025, in all our communities. In the event of any changes to school operations, we will inform you as soon as possible via our website and social media channels.

We thank you for your patience and continued support.

June 12, 2025, Update to Labour Negotiations with the Alberta Teachers' Association (ATA)

​With more bargaining dates scheduled, it is not anticipated that labour action will be taken in June, but we will keep you informed if this changes. For now, there is no disruption to learning or any changes to normal operations. All GYPSD schools and facilities remain open and classes and planned activities are continuing as normal. Community use continues to be available for booking GYPSD facilities.

GYPSD highly values all our ATA staff and the contributions they make to student success. We respect the bargaining process and remain hopeful that the provincial government and the ATA reach a negotiated settlement. We are committed to keeping families and staff informed and will share updates through our website, email, and other communication channels as more information becomes available.

June 12, 2025, Letter to Families from Supt. Parsons

What Is Happening Now?

• Members of the ATA have completed a strike vote (June 5 - 8, 2025) and are now in a legal position to give notice to strike if they choose to do so. 
• ATA Members in May voted against a mediator's recommendation during Central Bargaining. 

What Happens Next?

• Now having a strike mandate from their membership, the ATA would have to give, at minimum, 72 hours notice if they choose to withdraw their services. 
• The ATA has indicated that more bargaining dates are scheduled for this month as well as August.
• There is the possibility more negotiations could happen at any time. 

How does Bargaining Work?

• In Alberta, teacher bargaining takes place at two levels:
  • Central Bargaining (currently underway) occurs at the provincial level and addresses broad, province-wide matters, such as salary and general working conditions. This is the process that is occurring now. 
  • The parties involved at this stage include the ATA’s Central Table Bargaining Committee (CTBC) and the Teachers’ Employer Bargaining Association (TEBA).
  • Bargaining at a local level occurs following the Central Bargaining process. 

Who are ATA Members in a School Division? 

• All certificated teaching staff, including school-based leadership teams such as principals and vice principals, are members of the ATA.