CKNW Radio reports as many as 10,000 protesters gathered at the BC legislature in Victoria in support of striking teachers. Teachers union president Jinny Sims said she and her union will not be broken by the government and what she called unjust laws.
“Mr. Campbell, stop threatening us,” she told the cheering crowd on the legislature lawn. “Stop trying to divide us. It will not work. We will not be broken.”
Campbell said the government is ready to talk class sizes, class composition and wages if the union drops its picket lines.
“We hear that they’ve got concerns,” he said. “We’re concerned about class composition. We’re concerned about class size. We want to solve this problem.”
Campbell said government officials in the Ministry of Labour have been talking with officials in the B.C. Federation of Labour about the dispute, but nothing has been able to start talks.
The government won’t open the door on negotiations until the teachers return to work, but others were suggesting it’s up to Campbell to bend.
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Canadian Teachers’ Federation President Winston Carter says they won’t stand idly by and allow a member organization to be attacked by what he calls a ‘wrong-headed’ government.
“We are afraid, we are scared as a teachers federation that this is just a thin wedge and that other unions and all the public sector groups throughout Canada are going to be in the same boat the next time round if the government of this province gets away with this draconian measures that they’re employing at this point in time.”
When asked whether the dispute could ignite a national general strike, Carter said it’s important to make every public sector group in Canada aware of the BCTF dispute, but it will be up to each organization to decide how to support B.C. teachers.
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