The strike vote taken by British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) members between June 24 and 28 was overwhelmingly in favour of taking job action this September.
Ninety per cent of the teachers who participated in the province-wide strike vote, which is about 70 per cent of the more than 28,000 teachers in B.C., cast ballots indicating they are willing to take strike action.
Cariboo Chilcotin Teachers’ Association president Joan Erb says teachers voted “yes” in order to send a strong message to government to back their bargaining objectives.
“We are extremely pleased with the 90 per cent vote. We were hoping to bargain in good faith but, unfortunately, that did not happen.”
She notes the positive results at the ballot box will allow the BCTF to show B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) the vast majority of teachers in the province are concerned about the bargaining process.
“We want to proceed with the bargaining and we want to be respected as a bargaining unit.”
The BCTF’s bargaining objectives include improved teaching and learning conditions, fair improvements to salary and benefits, and restoration of local bargaining rights, she explains.
If no progress is made in the bargaining sessions, the initial phase of job action is set to begin on Sept. 6, the first day of the upcoming school year.
Erb says phase 1 would see teachers remaining on the job, teaching and communicating with parents and volunteering for extracurricular activities.
What they will not be doing, she says, is supervising students outside the classroom or attending management meetings.
“Parents will probably think that job action is pretty good because teachers will have more time with kids and more time to speak with parents.”
School District 27 board chair Wayne Rodier says any strike action won’t affect operations, as the administrative work around issues, such as school staffing, has already been completed.
Trustee Pete Penner, who is the school board’s BCPSEA representative, says the relationship between the local board and teachers is good.
He adds there have been some discussions between the two parties. However, Penner says there isn’t much the board can do in terms of negotiations, as the board follows BCPSEA’s guidelines.
As for the possibility of job action come September, Penner says, “We hope that calmer heads will prevail and that we’ll be able to work something out.
“If everybody is reasonable I think we can do that.”
Erb says the BCTF is meeting with B.C.’s Labour Relations Board (LRB) on July 8 to determine the teachers’ legal position and right to job action, and will discuss the likelihood the provincial government would step in and force teachers back to work, as it did in 2005.
The LRB hasn’t made a ruling since then on whether the teachers’ position falls within the realm of essential services, she notes, so members want to get a handle on the current situation before taking any job action.
“For now, it’s pretty clear what we want to do.”
With files from Robyn Chambers, Williams lake Tribune.
