“Effective May 26, 2014, and continuing until further notice, your members will be locked out as described in this letter,” says a letter from the Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) of the province of British Columbia to the union federation representing teachers.
Signed by Michael Marchbank, the public administrator of the association, the letter is in response to escalating job action and what the employers are calling a “refusal to compromise.”
In addition, teachers will be docked five per cent of their pay for participating in a job action. If teachers launch the rotating strikes as planned next week, the BCPSEA says teachers’ salaries will be docked 10 per cent.
According to Jim Iker, president of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) with additional new directives that were just issued, teachers could be disciplined for helping a struggling student at lunch hour, and final exams for some senior secondary students will not be marked.
Iker said none of these impacts would have occurred under the teachers’ job action of rotating strikes.
“We were careful to ensure that already scheduled extra-curricular and volunteer activities continued. We wanted to minimize the impact on students,” Iker said. “During rotating strikes, teachers would continue all volunteer activities four out of five days a week.”
Apart from wages issues, the union has for years been fighting, and winning in court, the right to negotiate class size and conditions.
In a special website called A Fair Deal the teachers are appealing to parents: “Teachers are asking for support from parents to help us advocate for public education… to fight for your kids and their futures. And you only need to look at today’s headlines to see why we are taking a stand. All over BC, the provincial government is forcing school boards to eliminate programs, cut hundreds more teachers, and take away support for kids with special needs.”
More information:
BC Public School Employers’ Association letter (pdf) – here
Globe and Mail – British Columbia to lock out teachers beginning Monday – here
CBC News – B.C. teachers threatened with partial lockout – here
Globe and Mail – Blame Christy Clark if student activities cancelled, teachers’ union says – here
BC Teachers’ Federation press release – Christy Clark lockout impacts grads, exams, and more – here
BC Teachers’ Federation info – BC Supreme Court Ruling on Bills 28 and 22 – here
BC Teachers’ Federation ‘A Fair Deal’ website – www.afairdeal.ca
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