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Y O U R C O M M U N I T Y N E W S PA P E R • F O U N D E D I N 1 8 9 1 • W W W. T H E P R O G R E S S . C O M • T H U R S D AY, M A R C H 1 , 2 0 1 2
Bill 22 an ‘insult’ says Chilliwack teachers union
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Mediation pointless, counters MLA John Les Katie Bartel The Progress Chilliwack teachers went from a day of action to a day of reckoning. The excitement from a successful protest on Monday, which had more than 250 teachers rallying along Vedder Road was sobered by legislation introduced on Tuesday by B.C. Education Minister George Abbott. K a t h a r i n Midzain, president of the Chilliwack T e a c h e r s ’ Association called It’s a sad day, Bill 22 an “insult” to all teachers and a very sad day an act of bullying by the provincial in B.C. government. “It’s a sad day, ~ Katharin a very sad day in B.C.,” said Midzain Midzain. “This is frightening stuff. It’s something everyone in our province needs to be afraid of.” Bill 22, entitled the Education Improvement Act, would suspend all strike action and could impose millions of dollars in fines per day if a strike persists. “This is not just a teacher fight, and it’s certainly not a fight for wages or benefits, it’s a fight for whether or not government should be interfering with contractual rights,” said Midzain. Midzain said mediation and arbitration should have been the next steps, not legislation. “We have well-established processes for solving labour disputes and this government does not need to be intervening,” said Midzain. “By not giving the processes a chance to work, or to even see if they would
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Firefighters responded to a fully engulfed house fire on Prest Road north of Chilliwack Central Road shortly after 11 p.m. Tuesday after receiving several 9-1-1 calls from passing motorists and neighbours. One neighbour said the house was at least 60 years old and had been abandoned for years. Fire crews completed a search of the house and found no one inside. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Abbott moves to stop teacher strike Tom Fletcher Black Press VICTORIA – As the Labour Relations Board gave B.C. teachers a green light to strike for up to three days next week, Education Minister George Abbott tabled legislation Tuesday that would suspend all strike action and could impose millions of dollars in fines per day if a strike persists. As the legislature debates the “Education Improvement Act,” the B.C. Teachers’ Federation could legally walk off the job as early as Monday. Teachers are to complete their own vote on that option Wednesday.
The LRB ruled Tuesday that teachers can legally strike for up to three consecutive days in one week after two days’ notice, and a further one day in each subsequent week with the same notice. That could continue until the new bill passes the legislature. Abbott said the legislation imposes a six-month “coolingoff period” and sets up appointment of a mediator to look at non-monetary issues such as class size and composition. A separate penalty provision would be enacted if necessary, Abbott said, imposing a fine of $1.3 million a day on the BCTF and up to $475 a day on indi-
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vidual teachers who strike in defiance of the new legislation. Abbott said the timing of imposing the cooling-off period depends on whether the NDP opposition holds up the bill or lets it pass in the legislature. BCTF president Susan Lambert said teachers are reluctantly considering a full walkout, after a work-to-rule campaign since last September where they have refused to complete report cards or meet with administrators. “Teachers would prefer to be engaging in a meaningful mediation process to resolve this dispute rather than escalating it,” BCTF President Susan
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Lambert said. The legislation extends the current teacher contract terms until the end of August, imposing the government’s two-year “net zero” wage mandate that most other government unions have agreed to voluntarily. It gives a yet-to-be-named mediator until June 30 to seek agreement on issues other than pay and benefits, such as class size and composition. NDP leader Adrian Dix said the opposition will not support the legislation, and said Abbott missed an opportunity for “real mediation” of all issues, including monetary. Continued: FUNDING/ p9
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