A dispute between the provincial government and BC teachers is escalating with the government announcing its response to plans for next week’s rotating strikes.
On May 15 education minister Peter Fassbender said the government would be stepping away from its demand that the teachers’ union sign a 10-year term contract and offered a signing bonus, but the next day threatened to roll back teachers’ wages five per cent as a consequence for their low-level job action. The BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) answered the threat by saying it would move into stage two of job action which includes rotating strikes in all of the province’s 60 school districts. Government negotiators then countered May 21 by telling teachers they would face partial lock out and their wages rolled back.
BCTF president Jim Iker received a letter Wednesday, May 21, from Michael Marchbank, Premier Christy Clark’s appointed head of the BC Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) informing the union that the government’s response would include a partial and full lockout and with a five or 10 per cent wage reduction, depending on whether the BCTF decided to go ahead with its rotating strikes.
According to the employer, the salary cuts stem from the teachers’ stage one labour reductions of not participating in most meetings or providing and receiving any printed, electronic or written communication with school administrators.
“BCPSEA’s action to reduce wages is based on the principle of reduced pay for reduced work,” wrote Marchbank.
Under the partial lockout teachers are prohibited from being at school more than 45 minutes before school and after class time and are not permitted to work with students during recess and lunch times.
Iker said prohibiting teachers from working with students who require extra help during lunch time could possibly have the most wide-ranging effect.
A standard teacher’s day is nine hours long according to the employers’ association.
A full lockout of secondary school teachers was also announced for June 25 and 26. Both elementary and secondary school teachers will be locked out on June 27, a day in School District 47 scheduled already as an administrative day and with schools closed anyhow.
Iker told reporters during a press conference Thursday, May 22, that Clark’s decision is putting children in the middle of the dispute, something that the teachers’ union had worked hard to avoid.
“We were careful to ensure that already scheduled extra-curricular and volunteer activities continued,” said Iker. “We wanted to minimize the impact on students. During the rotating strikes teachers would continue all volunteer activities four out of five days per week.”
Iker also brought up a range of impacts from lockout including sports and other extra-curricular events being cancelled, teachers not being able to mark provincial exams and graduation ceremonies being affected.
Fassbender responded on social media stating that the lockout does not pose any problems for graduation ceremonies and does not affect any voluntary extra-curricular activities that teachers participate in with students.
He added that if there is a problem with exam marking, the lockout days can be “tweaked” so teachers can do the work.
The rotating strikes will continue until either a deal is reached or the union executive goes back to membership for another vote to move to the next stage of job action, said Iker.
School District 47 schools will be behind picket lines on Wednesday, May 28, during the first round of rotating strikes.
Superintendent of schools Jay Yule sent notification of the strike home with students on Friday, May 22. He explained that all of the district’s schools will be picketed on May 28 and that “each school will have very limited, and in some cases, no teaching or support staff to supervise students.
“While schools will continue to be open, there will be no instruction,” wrote Yule. “For safety reasons I ask that parents keep all children home from classes on May 28. Buses will not be running.”
Yule added that the school district will be doing its best to keep parents informed about the ongoing situation. Readers can visit the district's website for more information www.sd47.bc.ca
Teachers announce rotating strikes
Government steps back from 10-year deal
Despite incentives to encourage a resolution to the ongoing teachers’ strike, BC teachers will stage a rotating strike affecting every public school in the province.
School District 47 schools will go out on Wednesday, May 28, as part of the teachers’ union’s plan.
BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) president Jim Iker announced the job action will happen from Monday, May 26, to Thursday, May 29, during a news conference Tuesday, May 20.
The government backed down from its demand that teachers sign a long-term contract and offer incentives to end the strike on Thursday, May 15.
“Last week, teachers were hopeful when they saw the government and BCPSEA [BC Public School Employers Association] put out an olive branch by backing off the unrealistic 10-year term,” said Iker. He told reporters after the announcement that he thought teachers would be relieved the government had backed down on pushing for a 10-year deal and had become “a little more serious” about resolving the dispute. Then the next day he said the government went back “to threats and bad faith bargaining.”
The government threatened to cut teachers’ pay by five per cent in retaliation for the teachers taking reduced duties as part of their job action, saying that less work meant less pay.
Iker said there won’t be a deal unless the government is prepared to put appropriate class size limits, class size composition guarantees and guaranteed staffing levels for specialist teachers into the contract.
Under the rotating strike schedule the BCTF has divided up the province into four zones.
Each zone’s school districts will be behind picket lines one of the four days.
BCTF and BCPSEA have been in contract negotiations for the past 16 months.
The province’s 41,000 teachers began the first stage of job action in April, by not supervising students outside the classroom in some school districts and by not performing administrative duties. The government responded by threatening to force BCTF to pay the full costs of teachers’ benefits during the dispute, a cost of approximately $5 million per month.
Both sides have expressed an interest in coming to a resolution before the end of the school year.
Education minister Peter Fassbender said he and Premier Christy Clark have been discussing how they could move forward with their goal for 10 years of labour peace in the public school system.
“Parents and students want to see a negotiated teachers’ contract before the end of the school year,” he said. “So do trustees and government.”
He added that they would offer a six-year contract as a first step toward negotiating a longer term contract next time.
Iker said he hopes more proposals will be tabled to address the teacher union’s issues.
He said the teachers are open to negotiations and indicated they had already moved from supporting a three-year deal to one for four years.
Fassbender called a news conference to comment on the teachers’ strike plans after the Peak’s deadline.
Powell River and District Teachers’ Association president Cathy Fisher told the Peak the bargaining is happening at the provincial level and the union agreed to not comment about it in the media.
