BC teachers issue strike notice

[taylor192]

Originally Posted by Graeme S

PS: No more pro- and anti- union rhetoric, please. Let's keep this teachers/government, yes?

It's impossible to split the 2. I'd love to have really small class sizes, yet that depends on salaries, and that depends on the union, and that depends on the contract, and that depends on government funding, and that depends on taxes, and that depends on the economy.

The government has told them there is no more money, and rightfully so since BCers just told the government "no more taxes". So if the teachers want smaller class sizes then something else besides increasing funding has to be tackled, ie:
Closing schools with low enrollment
Cutting funding for programs/supplies
...

We can discuss the implications of Bill 27 and 28: The BC Supreme Court did not strike down Bill 27 and 28, it just proposed the 2 parties meet and come up with a remedy, and did not propose any monetary value to remedy. Thus IMHO much of Bill 27 and 28 were deemed lawful with only a few issues need to be ironed out otherwise the Supreme Court would have struck them down which puts the government in a far better position to negotiate.

If we look at what happened with Bill 29, even though the Canada Supreme Court struck down parts of the law, it did not mean things changed. The court ordered BC compensate those contracted out, yet did not require them to cancel the contracts and rehire them.

Thus the BCTF may win compensation, yet it doesn't mean their contract will be restored. That compensation has to come from somewhere, which will further drive the "net zero" policy of the government.

[BaBiE_Bee]

Kinda off-topic; but thought it was interesting that the teachers down in Washington State are striking too... (was channel surfing last night and stumbled on this)

TACOMA, Wash. — Students in Washington state’s third-largest school district are taking a fourth straight day off Friday as opposing sides in a teachers strike meet with a judge, after the instructors defied his order to return to the classroom.

The Tacoma School District teachers walked out Tuesday over issues including pay, class size and how job transfers are handled.

Read more at: Wash. teachers vote overwhelmingly to remain on strike despite judge’s order to return to work - The Washington Post