Sports tournaments and graduation ceremonies could be the latest casualties in the ongoing labour dispute between public school teachers and the province.
Teachers voted overwhelmingly in favour of further resisting the LiberalsB次元官网网址� back-to-work-legislation in a plan that includes pulling out of extracurricular activities such as coaching and graduation ceremony planning. ItB次元官网网址檚 a clear message that has left more uncertainty among parents and educators alike.
The B.C. TeachersB次元官网网址� Federation announced Friday (April 20) that 73 per cent of teachers who participated in a provincewide vote support stepping up their protests against Bill 22, the Education Improvement Act. A total of 21,625 teachers voted in favour of the federationB次元官网网址檚 action plan, while 7,846 voted against further action.
Meanwhile on the same day, the B.C. Labour Relations Board ordered teachers to immediately prepare report cards for work completed from the beginning of the year until March 17 in addition to June report cards. The reports are due by April 27 (Friday).
For School Bike League commissioner Eric Simonson of Oak Bay High, the vote comes at a bad time for athletics.
B次元官网网址淢any coaches (like me) think it is unfair to withdraw from extracurricular (activities),B次元官网网址� he said. B次元官网网址淚 know other coaches will keep coaching despite the vote.B次元官网网址�
In the Saanich School District, which covers the Peninsula and the northern tip of Saanich, teachers began withdrawing from extracurricular activities prior to the BCTF vote. Though the Saanich TeachersB次元官网网址� Association voted in March in favour of withdrawing from extracurricular activities, some individual teachers continued to participate, confirmed association president Sean Hayes.
How participation may change once the directive comes from the provincial federation is unknown, Hayes said.
The plan also launches a public awareness campaign and opens the possibility of a second union vote on a full walkout.
In a BCTF release, union president Susan Lambert called the decision to withdraw from extracurricular activities wrenching.
B次元官网网址淭eachers struggle with this because these activities bring so much joy to our engagement with students,B次元官网网址� Lambert said. B次元官网网址淲e know this will mean the loss of some highly-valued activities, and we sincerely regret that. But we have to look at the bigger picture and the longer term.B次元官网网址�
The Education Improvement Act was passed March 15 following months of work-to-rule job action by the provinceB次元官网网址檚 41,000 teachers and a provincewide walkout March 5. The legislation includes fines of $1.3 million a day for the union and $475 a day for individual teachers who continue to strike.
While talks between teachers and the B.C. Public School EmployersB次元官网网址� Association centred around class size and composition, as well as teacher prep time, the two sides were ultimately polarized over the governmentB次元官网网址檚 unwillingness to diverge from a two-year freeze on wage increases.
nnorth@saanichnews.com
- with a file from Travis Paterson
