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JUNE 11, 2014
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A group of teachers rallied outside Liberal MLA Donna Barnett’s office in 100 Mile House on June 7 in the midst of an ongoing labour dispute between the provincial government and British Columbia Teachers’ Federation.
Teachers vote on possible escalation Rotating strikes spin into potential full-scale action
Carole Rooney
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Rotating strikes continue this week while votes are still being counted today (June 11) toward a new, full-scale strike vote. After pay cuts and a partial lockout of public teachers was upheld by the province’s Labour Relations Board (RB), the BCTF held another vote June 9-10 to see if the membership is in favour of a potential Stage 3 strike action. The province cut teachers’ pay 10 per cent in retaliation for rotating strikes and their refusal to perform certain duties outside of the classroom. If approved by the vote, BCTF president Jim Iker says there will likely be a full-scale strike within the next week (but no sooner than June 16). However, Cariboo-Chilcotin Teachers’ Association president Murray Helmer says there are other potential outcomes.
“It could also mean additional rotational strikes. It is anything that falls outside of the Stage 2 accepted by the LRB – anything that was more than a single day a week had to be revisited [by vote].” Noting teachers began seeing their pay docked in May, he says deepening the cuts to 10 per cent when they already lose wages for strike days is “a double hit.” “It is open for the BCTF to seek an arbitrator to rule whether that 10 per cent is appropriate or not ... all the LRB did was say that ‘yes, it is possible for the employer to deduct your pay’. “We probably need to have that looked at because we have teachers in 100 Mile House who never have stopped supervising students and who have done very little out of the disruption that this is supposed to justify this.” That south-end supervision happened because administrators are not required to travel more than 45
minutes to fill this gap, so teachers were obligated to continue the service to ensure the students’ safety, Helmer explains. He notes the collective agreement covers each year’s term of service without assigning any timing to it, so some teachers have fulfilled their turn at duties, such as supervision long before now. “There is nothing in our contract that says that on any of these specific days we will do these tasks, so that’s why people are finding the ruling unfair. It’s definitely a disappointing outcome. “And, the rest of the LRB ruling upheld the lockout – that teachers can only be on school grounds up to 45 minutes [before and after school times]. “So, things [like field trips] that have been cancelled are due to the lockout, not due to our job action.” Unless a sudden resolution comes through soon, this recent action
by government leaves “no physical possibility” teachers can complete report cards in the manner to which parents have become accustomed, Helmer says. “It will be an abbreviated report card because ... we have to do our planning and our marking in that short [ninety-minute] window.” In School District #27, rotating strikes this week will occur June 12 with picket lines once again set up at area schools, leaving students to their own, or their parents’ devices. Meanwhile, dozens of secondary students at Peter Skene Ogden Secondary School joined many others across the province in walking out of their classes on June 4. Toting signs that read “education before money,” “strike + lockout = walkout” and “education before money” at Highway 97 near Cariboo Mall, they demonstrated their dismay at the continued labour dispute between teachers and government.