High school teacher Greg Pollard’s routine looks different these days.
Instead of being in the classroom, he spends a bulk of his days in his basement with his heat press machine, making and selling custom design clothing.
It first started as a way to ensure his school’s sports teams would get their customized jerseys on time. Then, it turned into a side gig to supplement his teaching income when finances got tight.
Now, his business Bean & Bud Custom Designs is what’s keeping him afloat.
“I don’t know what I would do right now without it. … I’d have no money during the strike,” said Pollard, who teaches subjects from guitar to social studies in Fort McMurray, Alta.
During the provincewide strike, roughly 51,000 teachers are going without a regular paycheque. They knew they wouldn’t get strike pay when they voted 89.5 per cent against the province’s latest deal, but it was a sacrifice they were willing to make, according to the president of the teachers’ union.
More than a week into the strike, many Alberta teachers like Pollard are turning to side hustles as creative outlets and to make ends meet.
Cochrane teacher Natalie Roy is taking this time to reignite her photography business, Whimsical West Photography. She said it’s been nice to get back to her passion, but it’s been more difficult than expected to get her client base built back up.
“I am a single mom with three kids, so there’s a lot of pressure to continue working. And it puts us in a difficult position because you can’t just go get a job anywhere else, because [we] know that we’re going to be off for a while, but we don’t know how long,” said Roy, who teaches English and social studies to Grade 7 students.
For Airdrie music teacher Sarah Batchelor, crocheting and selling hair scrunchies and mug cozies is equally as important for her mental health as it is for her bank account.
She isn’t used to being so far removed from her routine of seeing a new group of students every 45 minutes.
“I’m still worrying about some of these kids. Like, do you get breakfast? Are you safe today? … The creative outlet when you are dealing with emotional stress is really important,” said Batchelor.
Longer strikes, more side gigs
Christian Cook, a human resources professor at Mount Royal University with a focus on employee and labour relations, said she isn’t surprised to hear teachers are turning to side gigs during the strike. It isn’t exactly uncommon nowadays, she said, and there are a few reasons for that.
“In the past two years, when job action has taken place and employees have gone on strike, those strikes are lasting longer than they did maybe 10 or 15 years ago,” said Cook.
There are also more people participating in gig work generally due to the rising cost of living, Cook added.
“Maybe now they’re just doing more of that to try and augment the loss of pay from the job action. But it is important for the success of the job action that there is solidarity in how this works.”
The Alberta Teachers’ Association said teachers can pick up other work during the strike if they need to.
“However, tutoring children they currently teach is off limits, just as it would be under normal circumstances. This is included in the Teacher Code of Conduct,” said association president Jason Schilling in an emailed statement.
On Tuesday, for the first time since the strike began on Oct. 6, the province and the teachers’ union are set to return to the bargaining table on Tuesday.
