The province’s teachers will take a strike vote next month, with escalating job action possibly following after 90 days.
Members of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation will take a strike vote on March 4, 5 and 6, with a “yes” vote meaning job action could follow.
However, BCTF president Jim Iker said the union, whose contract with the province expired on June 30, 2013, still intends to bargain.
“The strike vote’s intention is to put the pressure on the bargaining table,” Iker said. “And we’re encouraging government to provide the necessary funding.”
If the vote ends up leading to job action, Iker said it will not immediately include school-wide walkouts, nor will it initially impact extra-curricular activities or report cards.
The BCTF said a year of bargaining and more than 40 sessions at the table have led to an impasse. The union said the strike vote is in response to what it calls “major concession demands, an unfair salary offer and a deliberately confrontational attempt to reverse the recent B.C. Supreme Court decision on class size, composition and staffing levels.”
“Teachers care deeply about our schools, our students and our communities. We don’t take a strike vote lightly,” Iker said. “However, this government seems incapable or unwilling to let the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association negotiate fairly with teachers. [Premier] Christy Clark, her government and the BCPSEA are insisting on rollbacks, freezing wages and ignoring the Supreme Court of British Columbia.”
The union said the BCPSEA has tabled unreasonable proposals, including:
• New language that would again strip all provisions on class size, class composition, and staffing levels for teacher-librarians, counsellors, special education and other specialist teachers.
• A salary offer that starts with a 0.5 per cent increase on the date of ratification that is not retroactive, zero per cent for the 2014–2015 school year, followed by increases of one and 1.5 per cent over the next four years.
“For teachers, our only recourse in response to the unfair, unreasonable and deliberately confrontational proposals at this point is to apply pressure through a strike vote,” Iker said.
“Such a vote, however, does not mean imminent school closures. We will consider all job action options and timing very carefully. Our goal is to reach a negotiated deal at the bargaining table without having to resort to job action.”
Once a strike vote is taken, a union has 90 days to activate it with some sort of job action.
Results of the strike vote will be announced on the evening of March 6.
