College educators refuse to let the provincial government starve out the teachers!MEDIA RELEASE
October 14, 2005

College educators set up “Feed the Teachers” fund

We’re not going to let the Provincial Government starve out teachers says Cindy Oliver, President of the Post-Secondary Educators.

Support for the BC teachers’ protest has spread to BC’s post-secondary
sector with an announcement today that the Federation of ost-Secondary
Educators (FPSE) has established a special fund to help feed teachers during this dispute.

“It’s clear that the provincial government is hoping to starve out BC
teachers and we’re not going to let that happen,” said Cindy Oliver,
President of the 10,000 member FPSE. “We have set aside an initial commitment of $200,000 to buy $50 food vouchers which we will be distributing to teachers who are fighting for a fair collective agreement,” said Oliver.

“Our plan is to get other unions in the post-secondary sector to contribute to this fund. We have talked this morning with our national organization, the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) and expect to get a firm commitment from them as to their contribution. We are also appealing to others in the BC labour movement to show their solidarity and support for what we have done. I hope that by next week we are in a position to announce more contributions to ensure that every teacher in BC understands just how
much we are prepared to do to help them win a fair collective agreement,” said Oliver.

“The Premier and his Cabinet colleagues have to understand that the longer they refuse to negotiate with BC teachers the longer this dispute will drag on. Teachers want a negotiated settlement and we need the government to show that it is prepared to let those negotiations happen,” Oliver concluded.

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For more information contact:
Phillip Legg, FPSE Communications at 604-873-8988
Or Cindy Oliver, FPSE President at 604-873-8988