High school football players benched because of the Alberta teachers strike are getting help from the CFL’s Edmonton Elks.
The strike, on day 3, means a number of school sports teams are having their seasons put on hold indefinitely, including high school football, flag football, volleyball and soccer.
125 available slots were filled within a number of hours, with another 90 student athletes put on a waiting list for the six practice days planned throughout the month. The camp was made possible with help from the province’s umbrella organization Football Alberta, said the student athletes who attend will learn from the pros. Elks players from each position will be helping out, including two-time Canadian Football League all-star receiver Steven Dunbar Jr.
The strike is affecting some 740,000 students in 2,500 public, separate and francophone schools, which all closed Monday.
It began after teachers overwhelmingly rejected the government’s latest offer, which included a 12 per cent wage increase over four years and hiring 3,000 more teachers to reduce overcrowded classrooms.
The president of the Alberta Teachers’ Association, Jason Schilling, says the pay bump doesn’t make up for years of stagnant salaries and the additional hiring commitments aren’t enough to fix overcrowded classrooms.
Premier Danielle Smith has repeatedly defended the government’s proposal, saying it’s fair and designed to address issues teachers are raising.
Starting Thursday, teachers will also be locked out of their schools, a move the provincial government’s bargaining committee says will provide predictability by ruling out changing job action tactics by teachers.
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