Report Card Coming On Teacher Talks
Thursday, February 9, 2012 @ 12:27 PM
Prince George, B.C. – Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government Minister Margaret MacDiarmid has instructed the assistant deputy minister of industrial relations to report on the likelihood of a negotiated settlement between the BC Teachers’ Federation and the BC Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA).
The minister appointed Trevor Hughes to inquire into the dispute in response to a request from Education Minister George Abbott. Hughes has been with the labour ministry since October 2008 after gaining 16 years of direct collective bargaining and labour relations experience in the broader public sector. The industrial relations division of the ministry monitors and, when requested, offers assistance in collective bargaining disputes that impact the public interest.
Hughes will meet with the parties over the next two weeks and provide a report to MacDiarmid by Thursday, Feb. 23.
Minister of Labour, Citizens’ Services and Open Government Margaret MacDiarmid says "Minister Abbott has asked for and I have agreed to seek an expert assessment of whether or not the parties will be able to reach a negotiated settlement. During this process, I encourage the union and the employers’ association to continue working towards an agreement and hope they can reach a resolution to this matter on their own."
Comments
Is it a question of “You have until the report is in to reach a deal. Otherwise we legislate an end to the job action”?
Findings of the report “Teachers are unwilling to be bullied back to work by current tactics. The author suggests escillating action to coerce compliance.”
I don’t know why the government waited this long to legislate an end to this dispute. It was clear from the beginning they had no intention to negotiate. Why not just legislate a settlement last August before the school year has been upset by the job action?
As I have pointed out in earlier posts- if the government wanted to negotiate in good faith there would be a binding arbitration clause in the negotiating process. Believe it or not it was the Socreds who did away with that arbitration process in 1988. Yep Bill Vanderzalm was the author of the process we have now got for teachers contracts. Thanks Bill!
I appreciate the work that teachers do, but enrollment is declining almost everywhere and they want about $1 Billion taxpayer dollars. Something doesn’t add up.
There’s a lot of teachers and it all adds up. Guess what our Provincial government spends on salaries? Guess what their raises and allowances add up to? Teachers now spend 6 years in University (another scam), yet they get paid like chicken pluckers. Our mayor makes more than teachers. Enrollment has nothing to do with honest bargaining for teachers. This government has a hate-on for teachers and it’s obvious.
I say pay teachers baby sitter wages because that’s what they are, baby sitters.
So lets see what would it cost to pay teachers baby sitter wages. No paid breaks no paid holidays. Just the going daycare rate of 25.00 per day per kid. As a matter of fact the YMCA in PG charges about 30.00 per day per kid (44.75 for 9 hours. PER KID) . And lets not pay them for summer holidays or Christmas breaks or spring break. So about 9 months per year.
Average class 25 kids. 25×25=625.00 per day. 5 Days per week x625= 3125/week. 4 weeks per month X3125= 12500/month and they only get paid 9 months remember? 9×12500= 112,500. The average teacher makes no where near that amount of money.
So why are people willing to pay 895.00 per month per kid (YMCA PG daycare rates for 9 hour day) for baby sitting but not anywhere near that for the baby sitter they send them everyday to called school.
I say pay the teachers baby sitter wages because that’s what they really are.
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