The possibility of a general strike in Alberta: What is the right move?
By Kiera Fitzpatrick-Moran, December 17 2025—
The Alberta Federation of Labour has threatened a possible general strike, which might be a great risk despite its admirability.
On Oct. 29, 2025, following the province-wide teachers’ strike, staff and students alike were ordered back to school in Alberta following the use of the notwithstanding clause. No resolution was reached.
The strike had spoken to more than simply a set of rejected demands, but was a brief symbol of collective hope — a beacon for working-class optimism, inspiring others to similarly demand better for themselves. Unions were built with this kind of action in mind: protection for a collective and safety in numbers.
However, the UCP’s Oct. 29 Back to School Act legislated an agreement that most members of the Alberta Teachers’ Association (ATA) rejected in September, including a 12 per cent salary increase over four years, additional market adjustments of up to 17 per cent for most teachers, and the hiring of 3,000 teachers and 1,500 educational assistants. The strike’s abrupt end has showcased the innate fragility of this specific flavour of hope and highlighted that these kinds of protections can fail.
The Alberta government’s willingness to invoke the notwithstanding clause to force compliance ended the strike, but it also exposed limitations to the power of organized labour. What choice do Albertans have now but to respond?
Talk of a general strike has begun to spread through the province. The Alberta Federation of Labour stands at the forefront of this call to action, with President Gil McGowan voicing his desire to treat an attack on the rights of some workers as an attack on the rights of all. This idea of mass coordinated action has been circulating with growing eagerness among union leaders and frustrated workers alike, demonstrated for example by the gathering of labour supporters at Ironworkers Hall in Edmonton.
Now, I want to be clear: I will always cheer for workers who speak up, organize and demand better treatment. It takes courage to stand against a system that aims to keep you compliant. However, this particular moment is complicated. The enthusiasm surrounding a potential general strike is inspiring, but the path toward it is a rocky one. There are questions of legality, coordination and government consequence. It’s one thing to call for solidarity, but it’s another to sustain these kinds of broad strikes under a government that has already shown its willingness to snuff flames of defiance out from existence.
We have to be honest about the reality of what a general strike in Alberta would entail. Under current labour laws, the general strike would be considered illegal, failing to meet the requirements set by the Alberta Labour Relations Board. These requirements for a lawful strike include: expired collective agreements, mediation periods, cooling-off windows and official strike votes. A general strike, by its definition, can’t satisfy those requirements across multiple sectors at once, which means that the moment it began, participating workers would lose what limited protections they currently have. Although strikers would be united in a powerful and difficult-to-ignore manner, they would also face more risk.
The provincial government has already demonstrated its willingness to invoke legal tools. In the context of what we already know (that Smith’s government is not afraid to shut these protests down completely), the idea of a mass, cross-sector walkout starts to look like a dangerous gamble that would hold the harshest consequences for those who can least afford them. Penalties could include anything from fines to imprisonment, and it’s hard to picture your loved ones facing these realities for simply standing up for their fellow neighbour. The risks are widely apparent, meaning the most hopeful outcome in all of this isn’t a province-wide general strike, but that the threat of one becomes powerful enough to force the Alberta government to reconsider its approach.
But collective action holds power in its potential alone! We’ve seen this play out in 2022, when Ontario Premier Doug Ford’s government was forced to repeal legislation that banned an education workers’ strike after only two days of mass walkouts by the Canadian Union of Public Employees. That moment proved that governments are not immune to political backlash, especially when they overreach.
In Alberta’s case, even the rumour of a general strike could serve as a check on that overreach if workers are willing to stand up for one another, mobilize and resist when pushed. The point isn’t necessarily to shut down the province; it’s to make those in power believe that workers could so that benefits can be reaped without the potential punishments.
Overall, such restraint in this regard isn’t a weakness: it’s a strategic response to a provincial government that doesn’t seem to mind bulldozing its people. All workers deserve better pay, safer conditions and respect, but they also deserve protection.
The Alberta Federation of Labour is right to prepare and remind the government that workers are paying attention; however, a general strike could carry consequences that outweigh its benefits. In this case, the threat of mass action speaks for itself, keeping the pressure on the government without putting workers in direct danger.
Because at the end of the day, while the Smith administration can legislate compliance using the notwithstanding clause, it can never legislate silence.
This article is a part of our Opinions section and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gauntlet editorial board.