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Teachers poised to strike next week Province introduces legislation to quell job action and bring in mediator DELYNDA PILON newsroom@pgfreepress.com
Teachers will go on strike Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, completely withdrawing their services after lengthy and unproductive months of negotiations with the B.C. Public School Employees Association, which included 78 face-to-face meetings. On Feb. 29, 87 per cent of the teachers who voted were in favour of strike action. This comes after a decision from B.C. Labour Relations earlier in the week giving teachers the right to strike, with some regulations. Shortly following that announcement, the B.C. government introduced legislation that would suspend any strike action by teachers and appoint a mediator to help the two sides bargain a mutually acceptable agreement. However, any proposed solutions can’t result in new net costs for school districts. Matt Pearce, president of the Prince George District Teachers Association, said the term ‘mediator’ is a misnomer. “Their job is to strip our collective agreement over the next six months,” he said. The legislation extends the previous collective agreement to cover the mediation period, and if no new agreement is reached before June 30 then the mediator will issue a report with nonbinding recommendations. The legislation, which is included in Bill 22, passed its first and second reading with debate beginning in the house on Thursday. Minister of Education, George Abbott, said it
SMART PROTEST
About a dozen people at the corner of 18th Ave. and Hwy. 97, near the BC Hydro office, carry placards Wednesday protesting the use of B.C. Hydro smart meters in private residences. Te re s a M A LLA M / Fre e Pre s s
is unclear how long it will take until the bill passes. “It could take two or three weeks or just a few days,” he said during a telephone press conference. “I would like to see a fulsome debate on this. The whole thing might get clouded if the teachers federation withdraws services and leaves one million parents in the lurch.” Until the legislation passes, teachers retain the right to strike.
After it passes, the bill will impose financial penalties on strikers. “We understand it won’t be law before Wednesday,” Pearce said. “Right now we are in a legal position to strike.” One ongoing issue in the bargaining process is the government’s 2010 net zero mandate for public sector employees. The mandate states that collective agreements that expired in 2010 or 2011 which weren’t yet renegotiated had to meet
the net zero mandate for two years. Within it, any improvements in collective agreements have to be offset by savings in other compensation areas. However, teachers say their wage should keep up with inflation and catch up with what teachers are paid in other provinces. Currently, B.C. teachers rank eighth in salaries in Canada. The next step for teaches, once the legislation suspend-
THIS WEEK!
ing their right to strike passes, remains to be seen. “That’s a question to ask down the road,” Pearce said, adding the government has effectively removed the collective bargaining process for teachers. He said the legislation is illegal, and added this government knows it. “We will go to court, but it will be law until it is struck down,” he said. “This government knows it’s illegal.”
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