The province's teachers threaten to take strike vote next month
By Timothy Schafer
A strike vote is looming for the province’s teachers as contract negotiations between the teachers’ union and the provincial government have hit an impasse.
If the collective bargaining impasse between the B.C. Teachers Federation and B.C. Public School Employers Association continues, teachers across B.C. will take a strike vote between June 24 and 28.
The vote — supervised by the Labour Relations Board — will determine if teachers will strike in conjunctioin with the start of the next school year in September.
Initially the job action would involve teachers’ refusal to undertake administrative tasks or to attend unnecessary meetings, said BCTF president Susan Lambert in a press release, while focusing all their energies on the classroom.
“Parents may not even notice much of a change as teachers intend to continue serving our students in the classroom and communicating with parents about students’ progress,” she said. “However, we will not be doing administrative work or attending meetings with management.”
Negotiations are taking place in the wake of a BC Supreme Court decision that ruled Liberal legislation which stripped teachers’ contracts and limited their ability to bargain is unconstitutional.
The union has asked the Province to restore funding to make up for the $275 million that was cut every year since 2002, when the legislation was imposed, the federation’s statement said.
The teachers’ union says contract negotiators are refusing to bargain anything of substance. Negotiations with the B.C. Public School Employers Association have been underway since early March.
The teachers are asking for improved teaching and learning conditions — class size and composition, caseloads, learning specialist ratios, and time for class preparation — and higher wages more in line with what teachers are making across Canada.
As well, the union is asking for a return to local bargaining as the best solution to local issues.
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