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THURSDAY, JUNE 12, 2014 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
FEELING THE BEAT Feel the Beat dancers sported colourful regalia at the Highland Valley Copper open house on June 5 at Spirit Square. The event celebrated the one-year anniversary of the company’s Merritt office opening. Proceeds from the event went to Lower Nicola Band health programs. Michael Potestio/Herald
B.C. teachers vote to escalate job action By Michael Potestio THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
Teachers across the province voted in favour of escalating job action that could result in a fullscale strike as early as next week. Yesterday, the BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) announced that 28,809 of 33,387 teachers — 86 per cent — who cast ballots on Tuesday voted yes to escalating job action. Voter turnout in the decision was just over 80 per cent as there are about 41,000 teachers in the BCTF.
Nicola Valley Teachers’ Union president Peter Vogt said he could not reveal how the strike vote was received in School District 58, but said people he talked to on the picket lines Wednesday were happy about the result. BCTF president Jim Iker said the union is prepared to withdraw services and initiate the strike, a press release announcing the vote’s results stated. “At this point, the BCTF has not served [strike] notice, but we will do so if necessary. If we make the decision to escalate, we will provide three working days’
notice. That means there are still several days left that both sides can hunker down, reach a settlement, avoid a full-scale strike and end the government’s lockout,” Iker said in the press release. The union is obligated under the Labour Relations Board (LRB) to serve 72 hours notice of a strike, meaning the strike could start early next week. Vogt told the Herald the overwhelming approval of a strike should send a clear message to the government that teachers are serious about the labour dispute’s issues.
Order at
Rotating strikes this week are continuing as scheduled with teachers in SD58 walking the picket line yesterday — the third day of missed classes for students in the past three weeks. There were no strikes scheduled this past Monday and only School District 61 for Greater Victoria was on strike Tuesday. On Wednesday, 22 of the province’s 60 school districts were on strike. There are 18 school districts striking today and tomorrow. The BCTF announced it was voting on whether or not to implement a full-scale strike after the
LRB upheld the provincial government’s decision to cut teachers’ salaries by 10 per cent in response to their job action. The Ministry of Education recently released an information bulletin on the impact a full-scale strike could have in the event teachers strike in the final weeks of school. For students in kindergarten through Grade 9, schools will be closed and although reports cards will be received, they may be abbreviated.
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June 30, 2014
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