BCTF announces 72-hour strike notice for low-level job action

VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – Things are going to change a little bit for students starting on April 23rd.

The BCTF has announced that day to be the start of low-level Stage 1 job action, targeting administration.

In a release, BC Teachers’ Federation President Jim Iker says this decision was made “in response to disappointing progress at the negotiating table where the Christy Clark government and employer’s association have not backed off from unfair and unreasonable demands.”

“On March 6, after over a year of negotiations, 89 per cent of BC teachers voted in favour of potential job action to help secure a fair and reasonable settlement,” said Iker. “The overwhelming vote was a strong and decisive mandate from teachers to put pressure on Christy Clark’s government and the negotiators for the BC Public School Employers’ Association.

According to the statement, there will be no immediate school closures or disruptions to students. This first stage is administrative in nature only.

“There has been more than six weeks since our strike vote and the government still has these unacceptable demands on the table,” adds Iker. “Teachers will not agree to a 10-year term, we’ve asked repeatedly since May for the province to move away from that.”

Teachers will continue to teach, write report cards, communicate with parents, and participate in their volunteer extracurricular activities.

Education Minister Peter Fassbender said in a statement that today’s announcement is disappointing but not at all surprising. “Over the past few weeks, it appears the BCTF has been more focused on implementing its strike plan than bargaining at the table.”

“There has been virtually no movement from the BCTF on their wage and contract positions. The union hasn’t moved off its opening position of approximately 13.5 per cent increase over three years, nor has it withdrawn any of its many other monetary proposals.”

“Now that the BCTF has formally initiated their strike plan, BCPSEA hopes the BCTF will now turn its attention to some real bargaining,” added Fassbender.

“Nobody wants to see a repeat of the six-and-a-half month strike a few years ago where teachers faced no consequences financial or otherwise, for withdrawing a wide range of services – from refusing to write report cards to non-participation in extra-curricular activities. That situation only served to prolong the dispute, to the detriment of students, parents and all public school employees.”

During Stage 1 job action teachers will not:

• Undertake any mandated supervision of students outside of regularly scheduled classes, except as set out by an essential services order.
• Attend any meetings with management other than meetings of the worksite Joint Health and Safety Committee.
• Provide principals or administrators with any routine printed, written, or electronic communication.
• Receive any printed, written, or electronic communication from an administrator.
• Be at a worksite prior to one hour before commencement of instructional time and one hour after the end of instructional time, other than for pre-arranged voluntary activities.

Iker explained that any escalation of Stage 1 to Stage 2, which would mean rotating strikes, will depend entirely on progress at the negotiating table.