JonboyE

I was listening to the radio this morning and one journalist gave a rather grim analysis for parents.

One of the issues in the court case is that the BCTF accused the government of bargaining in bad faith. I.e. they continued a sham negotiation when they had no intention of reaching an agreement because they had already decided there was a political advantage in legislating the teachers back to work.

The judgement in the Supreme Court found in the BCTF's favour.

The journalist quoted his "sources in government":

a) Legislation does not solve anything. It just kicks the can down the road. They might as well get this sorted once and for all.
b) Legislating the teachers back to work now will enable the BCTF to make the same claim. They need to show a commitment to reaching a solution at the bargaining table.

From "sources in the BCTF":

The BCTF cannot bargain working conditions as it would weaken their demand in the law suit that 2002 conditions be re-imposed.

I guess they might as well just cancel school for the year.

JonboyE

That is what I thought. So it does beg the question of why the government in the 90s legislated the contract rather then telling the employer's association this is the deal you must reach (and by the way, we have already squared it with the BCTF). If they had done that the government would now not have a leg to stand on.

You are quite right that government sets the budget. That is their job an what we elect them for. If we don't like the budget they set we can vote the b*st*rds out. Last year the Liberal party won its forth consecutive election in a near landslide. A promise to balance the budget was the centre of their election platform. As you know, I come from mining stock and could say, "united we stand, divided we fall," before I could say mammy or daddy. Taking the side of the the employer/government over the union/worker does not come easily for me. I do, however, have concerns when a union attempts to overthrow the clear democratic mandate of a government.

Well, that and the increasingly cringe worthy attempts by the BCTF to garner public sympathy.

prairiechicken

That makes for grim reading.

But it doesn't answer any questions about how kids actually get any education this year. I am afraid I am far too ignorant on how it all works, but surely if we live in a country that is supposed to educate its citizens, there will come a point when there is some sort of legal requirement for the government to provide that education, and something has to happen to get kids back in schools again.

I am concerned enough having a child who's supposed to be in Grade 6. What about those with kids at high school, and especially ones who are supposed to graduate this year? I can't believe that the government, or the BCTF, is going to allow this to go on long enough so as to jeopardise the education of an entire province.

Oakvillian

Sadly, I can. It is, after all, all about egos, political posturing and money. And nothing whatsoever to do with education or welfare of children. That much has become increasingly obvious on both sides over the last week - at least from the perspective of three time zones away.

JonboyE

One option would be for the Labour Relations Board to rule school teaching an essential service. That way the strike could end with neither side losing face. Except that they will not do it by themselves. Someone has to ask the LRB to make a ruling.

prairiechicken

Can they, legally, though? I mean (and I ask this question because I actually don't know), is there not something that legally prevents education being withheld from its citizens indefinitely?

And are parents really going to stand back and let it go on indefinitely? Won't there be a revolution or something?

JonboyE

The government is trying to break the union, and the BCTF is trying to break government economic policy. I don't see a happy ending. Not even on the massage table.

scrubbedexpat091

BCTF is asking for binding arbitration but wants the issues before the courts to be excluded from it.

BCTF calling for binding arbitration to end current labour dispute | Globalnews.ca

ExKiwilass

HAHA welcome to BC. Parents are divided too, so some of them might but the others will just keep saying the strike is an 'inconvenience' that is worth having for the sake of labour/public educations.

it's going to be long, bitter and nasty.

scrubbedexpat091

Best bet in BC if you want an education not uninterrupted by BCTF/government labor issues is to find a private school to send the kids to. Its pretty much impossible to go K-12 without some sort of labor issue in BC involving the teachers.

This is the ugliest I have seem the teachers dispute in the 10 years, I have lived in BC, but not the first one, and wont be the last. Teachers issues in BC goes back a couple decades, one article last week stated 50 strikes/work actions since 1987, so its not a normal union vs employer relationship.

Novocastrian

Indeed. Certainly the government is trying to break the union as confirmed by their refusal to go to binding arbitration: the union isn't trying to break the government's economic policy, to balance the budget, though. There could easily be savings on other things rather than on education or public services in general.

That's the government's affair though, not the teachers'.

prairiechicken

Private education isn't an option for us. We simply couldn't afford it. And neither, I am sure, can the majority of people. Nor does it solve the problem. For all that I'm a bit upset about having arrived in BC in the midst of all of this (and about the effect it is having on my own situation and family, which is an inconvenience), I believe in public education, and that good education shouldn't just be for the rich.

What's bugging me the most is the fact that apparently the actual children who are actually supposed to be in school right now have been forgotten whilst two parties try to prove a political point. It's not that I don't see that there are serious points that need to be addressed. But I'd like them to find a way to slog it out without holding the kids to ransom.

Alan2005

I used to think home schooling is what whackos did. But, now in totally understand it.

scrubbedexpat091

I agree private isn't an option for most, and doesn't solve the issues in the public system, just meant its the only way to have a K-12 education without a strike or other labor issue affecting it.

It's such an entrenched issue between teachers and government, not sure they can have have true peace between one another. It would probably be a bit more peaceful with an NDP government, but considering the liberals just won last year, and every election for what the last 12 or so years, who knows how the long the liberals will hold the power.

dishwashing

Oakvillian, do you think all work places are like that?