UPDATED: Teachers vote overwhelming for binding arbitration
Teachers from across the province voted overwhelmingly to accept binding arbitration B.C. Teachers' Federation president Jim Iker said Wednesday night during a livestream news conference. More than 30,000 teachers of the 41,000 cast ballots Wednesday in voting with 30,490 of the 30,669 voted "yes" to accept binding arbitration...
Strike putting financial strain on local teachers; Food Share program organized to help
While B.C. Education minister Peter Fassbender came out Monday telling reporters in Victoria he's living in the time-loop comedy Groundhog Day, members on the picket line in Nelson are dealing with the reality of not getting a pay cheque as the teachers' strike enters its second week of the new school year without classes. ...
LETTER: Strike is 'nefarious' and 'manufactured' and should frighten parents
Letter to the Editor: The continuing battle between the BCTF and the Provincial Ministry of Education should be of grave concern to families across B.C., and should be incredibly frightening to parents and caregivers in the Boundary and West Kootenay Region. Most conversations are about laying blame: “It’s the teacher’s fault”;...
NDTA teachers 'disappointed' strike entering second week Monday
There is still no good news for more than half a million B.C. students as beginning Monday the strike by BC teachers enters its second week. Saturday, the BC Government issued a release rejecting the idea proposed Friday by BC Teachers Federation president Jim Iker for the two sides to solve this dispute by entering […]
OPINION: The BC government's provocation of teachers could set a frightening precedent
Two members of my family are teachers; I will therefore limit my comments on the dispute between the teachers and the government to its constitutional aspect. Through the Health and Social Services Delivery Improvement Act of 2002 the government had attempted to curtail the B.C. health workers’ rights to collective bargaining....
With lockout lifted, Minister asks BCTF to suspend strike
Minister of Education Peter Fassbender has issued the following statement: "On Aug. 27, 2014, I met with the lead negotiators for the BCTF and BCPSEA and asked them to suspend any strike and lockout activities if the parties entered mediation so students could start school and teachers could go to work. "The BCTF refused to...
OP/ED: Fassbender issues statment re: ongoing teacher strike
This week should be the first week of school. For students and their teachers, it's supposed to be a time of excitement and anticipation. But instead, it's a time of frustration and uncertainty. I am not happy about where things currently stand. Throughout this dispute, everything we've tried to do is to have schools open on...
Castlegar Selkirk grad wins $5,000 scholarship
Making the leap from the comfort of hometown Castlegar and the familiar classrooms of Selkirk College to complete a degree 450 kilometres away can be daunting for any undergraduate student, but $5,000 in financial assistance can go a long way to easing the transition. That eased transition is the experience for Christina...
Local cultural venues offer education alternatives in light of strike
An African proverb says, “It takes a village to raise a child.” Let us come together and educate them too. As BC teachers and the Provincial Government work towards settling their labour dispute, the Kootenay Doukhobor Historical Society is offering free admission at the Doukhobor Discovery Centre (across from the Castlegar...
Tuesday was anything like a normal first day of school as more than 500 rally in support of public education
Tuesday was supposed to be the first day of public school for students in BC. Instead, students traded books for protest signs, joining more than 500 angry parents, CUPE workers and teachers at a march through the downtown core of Nelson to protest the labour dispute that has crippled the public school system in the province....