The Alberta Teachers’ Association

The past is real

“Scars have the strange power to remind us that our past is real.”
―Cormac McCarthy, All the Pretty Horses

As this issue of the ATA Magazine goes to print, renewed attacks on unions in general and on the Alberta Teachers’ Association in particular have been launched by the provincial and federal governments.

The government of Stephen Harper seems bound and determined  to continue its plan to gut unions, as described by Tom Sandborn in the Tyee (“Signs Harper Is Gearing Up to Declare War on Unions,” November 20, 2013, thetyee.ca):

A set of non-binding resolutions was adopted … at the federal Conservative party convention in Calgary. The resolutions … call for stripping unions of the right to use member dues to support social policy campaigns and other expenditures not part of a set of narrowly defined workplace issues.

The resolutions, in addition to clauses in Bill C-4, the omnibus budget bill currently before Parliament, aren’t merely expressions of Conservative anti-labour sentiment; according to trade unionists and labour advocates, they signal a growing war on Canadian workers.

Provincially, the ATA’s relationship with Alberta’s education minister is as icy as a December north wind. Minister Johnson’s latest icicle in the heart of teachers is his Task Force for Teaching Excellence. Not only does the task force’s methodology lack transparency, but teachers, the people affected by the final report, are not represented on the task force itself. The Task Force may be examining the following: removing the Board of Reference; removing principals and removing professional functions.

On another front, the province’s minister of finance has been talking openly about reducing pension benefits in the public sector.

It seems the ATA might endure new wounds in its skirmishes with government. Taking on opponents is nothing new for the ATA. Our reputation as a pugilist goes back to 1918, when a new teacher organization led by “Fighting” John Walker Barnett went from crawling on all fours to standing tall on two legs.

It’s synchronistic and timely that the story of the ATA’s early battles and achievements are the focus of the magazine. The following articles and archival materials highlight the challenges that faced the fledgling Alberta Teachers’ Alliance (forerunner to the Alberta Teachers’ Association). Many of these achievements didn’t happen overnight. They were hard-fought benefits won honestly in the youth of this organization by energetic men and women led by a visionary named J.W. Barnett. And where Barnett left off, others have taken up the cause. To all of them we owe our thanks.

In this issue, we recognize and celebrate Barnett’s stellar accomplishments. We also recognize the importance of preserving the past for present and future generations. If not for the guidance of Margaret Shane, ATA archivist, and the assistance of her colleague Ida Beltran, this issue would never have come to be. Shane’s enthusiasm for the things of yesterday is infectious and her knowledge of ATA history is second to none, and she was most ably assisted by Beltran.

I wish you good reading as you travel to the past.