CBC Ottawa: Strike vote on BCTF agenda
Delegates to the B.C. Teachers’ Federation annual general meeting are set to discuss a resolution on Monday on whether to hold a strike vote before the end of the school year.
Vancouver Sun: Teachers call for pay hike, prep time. If talks fail, strike could be called in May
B.C. teachers are expected to vote today on a confidential report that recommends their union open contract talks later this month by demanding a pay hike that would boost their salaries to Alberta and Ontario levels and a guarantee of 200 minutes per week of preparation time for all teachers.
CKNW: President of B.C. Teachers Federation says salaries must go up
The President of the B.C. Teachers Federation says in order to attract and retain teachers in B.C., and be competitive with other jurisdictions, teacher salaries have to be addressed in a significant way. BCTF delegates are meeting in Vancouver. They are expected to vote today on a recommendation their pay be boosted to the levels enjoyed by their colleagues in Alberta and Ontario. BCTF President Jinny Sims says a shortage of teachers is becoming a real issue. “Richmond, Surrey, Vancouver, on a daily basis, as well as up in the north,” Sims said. “We have been hearing about it for a while from the north but now in the urban areas we’re beginning to hear that there is every single day they don’t have enough teachers to fill the spots they have.” Sims was speaking on the Bill Good Show on CKNW.
CKNW: Teachers talking but still unhappy
Whether or not to hold an early strike vote to back contract demands will be the topic of the day Monday for delegates to the BC Teachers Federation Annual General Meeting in Vancouver. With memories of last fall’s illegal strike by teachers still fresh in the minds of many, delegates will debate whether teachers should take a strike vote to re-enforce demands at the bargaining table.
BCTF President Jinny Sims says teachers are frustrated because nothing has really changed since the last job action, “They put their professional certificates on the line in order to make improvements for kids and despite commitments made by this government, to date, we have no action.” The teachers’ current contract expires at this end of this school year.
Newswire.ca: Teachers convention addresses bargaining issues
About 700 delegates at the BC Teachers’ Federation Annual General Meeting endorsed the 2006-07 Leadership Report brought forward by BCTF President Jinny Sims and the 11-member Executive
Committee today. The report included a focus on collective bargaining, on professional leadership, on social justice, on alliances with the BC Federation of Labour, and on strengthening the BCTF as an organization with nine decades of history advocating for students and teachers.
The report notes that the willingness of teachers to take a strong stand in defense of quality public education has changed the political landscape in the past year.
“Our growing concerns about class size and composition really struck a chord with British Columbians, and earned us the active support of parents and the general public,” said Sims. “Now parents as well as teachers are saying this government has got to fulfill the commitments made at the end of our strike.”
Monday’s meeting focuses on the objectives and strategies for collective bargaining this spring. “Our goal is to negotiate an agreement before the contract expires at the end of the school year,” Sims said. “I feel confident we could do so with goodwill on both sides and an understanding that students’ learning conditions and teachers’ working conditions must be addressed.”
Sims pointed out that even the government’s own statistics show that more than 9,200 classrooms have 31 or more students, and almost 11,000 classes have four or more students with special needs.
“That’s simply unacceptable, especially considering that the government changed the definition of special needs to reduce the numbers of children qualifying for additional support,” she said. “In addition, the ministry’s numbers only reflect identified students with special needs, and we have thousands on waiting lists just to be assessed.”
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