Give mediation a chance—that’s the message teachers in Powell River and around the province are hoping the BC government hears as the beginning of the school year approaches.
A small group of teachers gathered in front of Powell River-Sunshine Coast MLA Nicholas Simons’ Marine Avenue office Thursday afternoon, July 31. Drivers honked their horns and waved as the teachers rallied.
Cathy Fisher, president of Powell River and District Teachers’ Association, gave a short speech explaining that with only five weeks before schools reopen, now is the time to increase pressure on the provincial government to take the dispute to mediation.
Mediators asked to broker a deal so far have declined saying the sides are too far apart for their efforts to be effective.
Mediator Stephen Kelleher, a BC Supreme Court justice, who turned the job down at the beginning of July, is available this month, said Fisher.
“Kelleher didn’t walk away from mediation because he thought it was pointless,” said Fisher. “He walked away because one side came into the process with some pre-conditions.”
At that time Peter Fassbender, education minister, blamed the failure on the BC Teachers’ Federation’s (BCTF) unwillingness to rein in its contract demands, which fall outside of the government’s “affordability zone.”
Since then, Fisher said the teachers’ union has asked to take the contentious issues of class size and composition off the table, to be dealt with later when the result of the government’s appeal is known.
Fisher wrapped up her talk by addressing finance minister Michael de Jong’s announcement earlier in the day that the provincial government would offer parents of public school students, 13 years old and younger, $40 per day per child to cover daycare costs or tutoring if the schools do not reopen on September 2.
“They don’t have any intention of getting an agreement before the end of August,” she said. “They are trying to starve us out, trying to break the union.”
She questioned how much tax money it was going to cost to set up and run the program.
She asked that people concerned with the situation write letters to Simons, Premier Christy Clark and Fassbender.
In making the announcement, de Jong said it is estimated the program would cost taxpayers about $12 million per day, which is roughly the same amount of money it costs to run the school system. The cash will be paid using the saving made from not having to pay teachers during the strike, he added.
The provincial government is building a website where parents will be able to claim the rebate.
BCTF president Jim Iker called the government’s plan “a blatant and divisive attempt to prolong disruption in BC schools.
“This scheme will not help improve class sizes, increase support for children with special needs, or provide more one-on-one time for all students,” he said. “It is my hope that the government will redirect its energies into reaching an agreement with BC teachers through mediation this summer.”
The BCTF bargaining team has been in regular contact with BC Public School Employers’ Association over the last three weeks, he added.
Jeanette Scott, Powell River board of education chairperson, penned a letter to the finance minister expressing the board’s shock and disappointment at the news.
Scott wrote that “as strong advocates for children and public education...we do not understand why the government would assume that transferring tax dollars, collected for public school, would appropriately be redirected to daycare.
“Surely, if there were a willingness to move these funds into the Learning Improvement Fund, this would be a sign not only of the government’s willingness to move forward toward a resolution of the conflict but moreover of its support for public education.”
The contract dispute between the province’s 41,000 teachers and the government has been ongoing since May when the teachers began rotating strikes and the government imposed a lockout. The teachers have been on full strike since June.
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