It's Better Here? Campaign and Sharables

WORTH KNOWING

It’s Better Here? Campaign and Shareables

In the fall, the Government of Alberta began the campaign “Public Service. It’s Better Here.” The campaign’s webpage states, “A strong public sector is key to Alberta’s prosperity. We’re proud to support our public service with better wages, benefit coverage, retirement plans, career advancement opportunities and lower taxes than any other province in Canada.” This justifiably raised the ire of many members and other public sector workers across the province.

The claims in the ads were not the lived experiences of Alberta teachers. Furthermore, while currently bargaining actively, many teachers felt that the campaign was intended to undermine support for public sector workers in the eyes and hearts of everyday Albertans. Assertions about new schools being built, meaning more jobs for teachers without the funding necessary to staff those schools, caused teachers significant concerns. In addition, even if new schools were built, important questions were raised about funds available for today’s teachers and students to address current and systemic issues relating to complex classrooms.

In response to these ads, the Association has developed a set of shareable images with some associated text for members to use on their social media to help spread the word. With the provincial budget coming out soon and mediation reaching a critical decision in the weeks ahead, arming members with additional resources to keep the messages on point is critical.
These resources are available in the Advocacy section of the website or by clicking here.
You can copy or download the images (right-click or control-click on the image or text and choose “Save image as…” or “Copy image”). Copy the text (highlight the text; then right click to copy).

WORTH SHARING
The Government of Alberta’s fall ad campaign does not reflect the lived experiences of teachers in Alberta. Many teachers perceived these ads as a means to undermine public support for public sector workers. With the provincial budget being shared soon and mediation reaching a pivotal decision in the weeks following that, sharing messages that are on point is critical. The Association has developed shareables as part of a social media campaign for this purpose. Members are encouraged to participate and share on their social media shareable images and text that can be found in the advocacy section of the website. #WeAreATA

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