Prince George, B.C. – The union representing support workers at public schools across B.C. is directing its members to report to work during the coming job action by teachers.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees represents more than 26-thousand support staff at K-12 schools. CUPE B.C. President Barry O’Neill has informed his members that he has been told by the B.C. Teachers Federation that the job action starting Monday will be comprised of information pickets only, and that they should report to work as usual. Lorrain Prouse is the president of CUPE Local 3742 which represents up to 800 clerical and custodial workers as well as education assistants in School District 57. CUPE Local 4991, a small local by comparison, represents maintenance people in the district. Prouse says O’Neill is a very staunch supporter of workers’ rights who always respects a picket line. However she says the teachers are following the Labour Relations Board essential service order on their job action to the letter and don’t want to jeopardize other workers at the schools. In that light the BCTF asked O’Neill to direct his members to report to work at the schools. O’Neill is complying, saying CUPE respects the right of all unions to run their strike action as they see fit.

Prouse says she supports the BCTF 100 percent. She says her personal feeling is that the Liberal government is out to bash unions and is pitting unions against each other. She says her members are watching the Bill 22 debate in the legislature very closely. The teachers say the bill is all about stripping their contract in an illegal manner with the government trying to achieve through legislation what it could not get the BCTF to bow to at the negotiating table. Prouse says there’s always a time and place to speak up against the government and that’s when you go to vote.

We asked Prouse what would happen if a support worker decided they wanted to back the teachers next week and chose not to report to work. She says that’s one of many questions which will likely be posed during a CUPE conference call later today.