Strike Day Ends in P.G. with Rally
Some of the 250 or so teachers who rallied outside MLA Shirley Bond's office on 5th Avenue – photo 250News
Prince George, B.C.- With the song "We're Not Going to Take It" blaring in the background, about 250 teachers in Prince George gathered in front of the constituency office of MLA Shirley Bond this afternoon.
It was a rally to wrap up a day of picket lines in School District 57 as the teachers' rotating strikes hit all of the schools in SD57.
The crowd was coached into a chant "10% roll back, shame, shame" as teachers voiced their opinion about the government trimming their pay cheques to reflect what the goverment views as a reflection of the work teachers have not been doing since launching job action in April.
As the stream of teachers waited for the lights to change so they could cross Victoria Street on their march to Bond's office, the sound of blaring car horns would suggest the teachers have far more support than some would like youto beleive.
Prince George District Teachers Assocation President, Tina Cousins led the crowd in a chant for the day ( click on photo above for video clip) .
The teachers were shown support from other unions, as CUPE , which represents support staff at SD57 were on hand, as were members of UNIFOR.
School District 57 Schools will be closed again on Tuesday as the rotating strikes are to continue into next week as well.
Comments
I got a chuckle today as I drove by Ferry and 16, thinking, here’s a bunch of university educated folks, some with more than one degree behind their names, heck, some with Masters Degrees, making good money, out on a picket line, yet for some reason there are conflicts in obtaining a contract. Some say its about class size and composition and other odds and ends. We know it comes down to money, don’t we. Seems in this day and age, 7.25% is a lot more that a lot of folks are getting these days.
I’ll bet BOND was nowhere to be seen..
our representatives are professional at avoiding something they don’t like or are told to ignore.
bcracer, considering that Shirley Bond is and always has been one of the hardest working MLA’s that we have ever had, it’s not unreasonable to expect that she has more important things to do than engage a group that probably has very little to say to her except yell and scream! Meeting with this group would accomplish nothing and would be nothing more than an exercise in frustration! I’d much rather have her doing far more productive work!
Speaking of work, I’d be more than willing to wager that Shirley Bond works harder and puts in more hours in a week than either you or I do!
For what we pay her for and a hefty pension that doubles 2 teachers she better work long hours
Did’t MLA’s give themselves a 29% raise ?
Oh, right. They work hard.
Look at all the worker bees swarming and obediantly following the queen bee in a chant.
buzzinga and karmann, are you talking about the NDP MLA’s and our Green Party MLA as well???
buzzinga and karmann, are you talking about the NDP MLA’s and our Green Party MLA as well???
Hart Guy, yes I am.
I doubt if Shirley works much harder than a lot of other MLA’s. Maybe she has to work longer hours because it takes her longer to figure out what the hell she is doing. She certainly spends a lot of time in photo ops.
“10% roll back, shame, shame” .. pretty obvious what the rally is about. Not about class size, composition but rather about their cushy wages maybe in jeopardy. Who’s kidding who here.
“I’ll bet BOND was nowhere to be seen” .. You do realize spring session just ended today so I am assuming she is in Victoria where she is supposed to be.
Huh-
Clearly you don’t know your information, the government is threatening a 10% wage decrease because the teachers have started stage two job action because of class sizes and support for the students.
The 10% rollback is very unnecessary and is taking away from what this strike is really about.
I also highly doubt you know what a teacher’s salary is because if you did you wouldn’t call it cushy.
The government ripped up the contract with the teachers…
Bond was the worst minister of education we have had..
Posted by: P Val on May 29 2014 8:11 PM
The government ripped up the contract with the teachers…
Bond was the worst minister of education we have had..
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That’s all a matter of perspective.
Do todays teachers really consider themselves the professionals they once were when I was a student?
I am surprised bcracer is back after the disrespectful funeral comment!
“Speaking of work, I’d be more than willing to wager that Shirley Bond works harder and puts in more hours in a week than either you or I do!”
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OK Shirley, whatever you say!
@Wow Unfortunately the government is no longer threatening the 10% reduction in pay! The teachers I know already had 10% of four days wage taken off their next pay cheques.
Comment Posted by: P Val on May 29 2014 8:11 PM
The government ripped up the contract with the teachers…
Bond was the worst minister of education we have had..
———————–
Agreed!
Hey dumb dow is that girl running your office a TFW?
Everyone is certainly entitled to their own opinions here…My opinion is that the public will make decisions, informed or not, and argue their point to the death no matter what anyone says. You can show them paystubs and have them personally attend classes to see what is going on and somehow, someway teachers will still be deemed greedy, whiners etc etc etc. BUT at the end of the day, those same parents are still sending their precious children to school to have the same teachers teach them. Why is that?
If the only option was private school…we all know that the outcry would be that private schools cost too much and how unfair it is. So PLEASE people, don’t be so quick to judge…teachers are trying to always do what is best for your kids. Give them a break and a chance.
Well said MichelleT3.
Comment Posted by: P Val on May 29 2014 8:11 PM
The government ripped up the contract with the teachers…
Bond was the worst minister of education we have had..
———————–
I Agree as well!
Michelle: “teachers are trying to always do what is best for your kids. Give them a break and a chance.”
I’ll give teachers a break when they give taxpayers a break and reign in their excessive demands. But I don’t see that happening anytime soon, so…
Excessive? Prime example of an “uninformed” opinion.
As for the comment “Huh” made about the government “threatening” to deduct 10%….paystubs came out yesterday, wasn’t just a threat. It is labeled as “job action” along side the amount deducted. The government locks teachers out, won’t attempt a fair deal AND then dock them 10% for the time they aren’t working…Oh…what’s the word I’m looking for? It’s right on the tip of my tongue….oh oh “Bully”! Teachers teach children how to deal with bullies and how not to be bullies and then our teachers get bullied. Interesting isn’t it?
I am proud to be a CUPE member who supports teachers 100%! Great job today!!
“if you did you wouldn’t call it cushy” .. so the 3 months paid vacation a year and 84k/yr plus medical/dental/rrsp/pension matching, etc doesn’t add up to a cushy civil servant pay? Hate to see what you call cushy.
You bet she is duhragon…best employee i’ve ever had. Cheap to.
Remember last dispute the gov had with teachers… the government said they saved 38 million in teachers salaries… then later they brag about infusing 30 million into the education budget for BC.. of course not saying what happened to the other 8 million they saved.. and gee why dont we trust what they say…
First – Canada as a whole spend less per capita than over a third of the countries in the world [ur]http://www.nationmaster.com/country-info/stats/Education/Education-spending/%25-of-GDP[/url]
And of 10 provinces in Canada B.C. ranks 9th in spending per student (succinctly put Canada is in the bottom 2/3’s world wide and BC is heavily skewing the average downwards – it is worse even than that).
Please read this article in the Vancouver Sun http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Letter+from+teacher+Christy+Clark+goes+viral/9876692/story.html.
Finally, if public schools are adequately funded why does Christy Clark send her kids to private schools?
Perspective! It’s a funny thing, isn’t it!
From my perspective, one of the biggest problems that I have with the BCTF is their perspective of things. The BCTF has convinced itself and by virtue of that, has influenced the membership into falsely believing that they are more important than any other sector of the workforce. Perhaps that explains why the BCTF’s contract demands are always far and above other Public Sector workers demands.
Funny thing, âPerspectiveâ! For all of us throughout our lives, our situations change and so does our perspective!
For example, consider the little old lady down the block who for years had the most beautiful flower beds and lawn in the neighbourhood. She grows older, more tired, no longer capable of doing some of the yard work that she took such pride in. Perhaps from her perspective the most important person in her world is the neighbourâs son that she hired to mow her lawn and help her plant her flowers! Perspective!
Consider the self-employed welder who’s work truck just broke down. For him/her, perhaps the most important person at that point in time is the mechanic who managed to fix the truck in a timely manner so that the welder was able to get to work, rather than risk losing a long term welding contract. Perspective!!
Consider the retired couple, living with only some small savings, Canada Pension Plan, Old Age Security and Guaranteed Income Supplement, with no children left at home. They might not care at all about the plight of our teachers! Perspective!
Consider the small business owner, working 7 days a week, hoping to find enough business and/or customers so that he/she is able to make payroll. They might not have any desire to pay more taxes to provide wage and benefit increases for teachers, especially when the teachers might already make far more in wages and benefits than the business owner could ever dream about. Perspective!
Now, consider the Grade 12 student who is looking for additional help and extra work in order to obtain a better grade and possible entrance into a chosen University and field of study. At that point in time, the most valuable person in the student’s life might very well be their teacher. Perspective!!!
Perspective changes, it evolves, it does not remain static, except when we consider the BCTF. For the leadership of the BCTF, from their perspective, they and their members are and always will be the most important sector of our workforce and deserving of far more in wage and benefit increases!!
Me, I suspect that if I ever end up in a Care Home, my perspective will change and the most important person to me might very well be the Care Aid that changes my diaper! Perspective!!
I’m sorry, I believe you have mixed up “perspective” and “choices”.
Nope MichelleT3, not mixed up at all!!
From my perspective, you missed the point!
3 months of paid vacation? Comparable to a logger, who makes more than a teacher, and also gets paid vacation too. Hmmmm, odd.
*and before you get your knickers in a knot, I know 1st hand what a logger makes and how long they are/can be off
Again, it’s all a matter of opinion. Good day.
By the way T3, you wouldn’t by chance be influenced by CUPE into believing that you are worthy of far more than what the “taxpayer” has the ability to pay, now would you??
Let’s see, a logger! Working long hours, often 7 days a week, often dangerous work, often self-employed with equipment payments, no benefits, not likely any sort of pension plan, away from home, day and night out in the middle of the bush, perhaps driving a logging truck down isolated logging roads and the highway in the pouring rain or the blinding snow at 20 or 30 below, long periods of time off without pay due to spring breakup or economic changes and/or slowdowns, no guaranteed pay, hired today, laid off tomorrow, physically exhausted and worn out by age 50 or 55, etc, etc!
Now, let’s look at teachers! Your turn!
Huh, they only get paid for the entire year if they spread their pay out for the months they have off..if they dont they dont get paid during summer.
also its only the top teachers that make 84K a year.. come back once you find out what the starting wage is.
Well said P Val! Mr. Hart Guy, I know all about loggers ;) But thanks for the lesson.
Opportunity cost.
A logger also didn’t give up 4 or 5 years of income to go to school. From a financial viewpoint – if said logger made 50G a year and was able to bank 35 G for four years – live the life of a student pauper on 15 G a year… And then not contribute any more money, ever, after 40 years @ 5% he would have made 1,414,613.99 more than said teachers.
So a teacher forgoes that… shouldn’t they be compensated?
Hopefully this starts a butterfly effect. Pensioners deserve a 16% increase to. Not to mention the welfare recipients could use a little to, after all the teachers cancel field trips and such so these welfare recipients are out lots of $$$$ to.
Wow, riding on the backs of others makes life a whole lots easier.
I wonder how long it will take us to catch up with the States?
Anyone know of a good area within P.G. to start up our tent city? Of course we all may have to huddle and rotate throughout the winter months.
The Government is offering a 7.3% over 6yrs plus a $1200. signing bonus? were is it stated a 10% wage roll back?
Are you crying wolf?
I think the Government should hire someone to monitor the teachers. Sorting out the good teachers from the BAD! and pay accordingly. Therefore pay all the good teachers 16% for all there hard work and for there ability to accommodate the BAD.
Teachers in this district get reimbursed for every course one takes towards a degree – a cost to the taxpayer and CUPE members had the day off with pay – use a vacation day – another cost to the taxpayer. Seniors cannot keep up with the cost of living without having another increase to their school property taxes because individuals want more.
“Comment Posted by: Mavrick64 on May 30 2014 8:06 AM
The Government is offering a 7.3% over 6yrs plus a $1200. signing bonus? were is it stated a 10% wage roll back?
Are you crying wolf? “
The 10% roll back isn’t a contractual negotiation. It’s the government clawing back money that they say teachers shouldn’t be paid because they are on job action. Based on what they took from my wife’s pay today multiplied by the number of teachers in BC, it looks like that little exercise put 20 million bucks back into Christy Clark’s private school fund.
What happened to the professionalism in teachers? Is there no dress code? If one were looking for a wage increase wouldn’t one dress for success not a street person? Just a personal observation.
This private school thing is getting a little old. Private schools get FIFTY percent of what the district schools get – per student. They get no capital funding. If you shut down every private school, and those kids transferred to public schools – according to BCTF numbers, there’s 73,000 kids in private school. If BCTF got it’s wish, and private school’s were all closed, and those kids showed up to class in Sept, the government of BC would have to find at least $250 million extra dollars, plus build or find 120 or so school buildings to put them in.
So how this solve BCTF’s problem, I don’t know. Because if the government ends up having to pay for all those private kids – full amount, that money will come from somewhere, and probably they’ll just lower the overall per student allotment so they pay the same amount.
So likely private schools, funded by partially by government, and partially by parents who chose to opt out of the public system, leave more money for the public system.
The only real harm I see private schools doing, is pulling out the kids who are probably easier to teach. But when you consider BCTF is the union that champions choice, you think they wouldn’t begrudge a parent the choice to educate their child elsewhere.
PG guy 1234 – The 10% roll back isn’t a contractual negotiation. It’s the government clawing back money that they say teachers shouldn’t be paid because they are on job action. Based on what they took from my wife’s pay today multiplied by the number of teachers in BC, it looks like that little exercise put 20 million bucks back into Christy Clark’s private school fund.
So you want a senior’s taxes to go up 10%? Unless you are on the lucrative teacher’s pension – the average senior in this province cannot afford another tax increase? And all this talk it is about the “students” , you are crying over a reduction in your wife’s pay! She probably makes more than 4 seniors together per month even with the reduction!
PGguy, So you figure the teachers should receive pay for standing out on the street dressed like street people?
Back in the day when the unions were being formed people like me went long periods of time without any pay or subsidies for our efforts.
I am sorry, but I feel 7.3% and a $1200.00 signing bonus is fair in my eyes.
“Comparable to a logger, who makes more than a teacher…”
A logger chooses his job, informing himself/herself beforehand what a logger’s job is all about, how much it pays, how demanding it is physically and what other stressful demands will be made!
I expect that everyone who plans to enter the teaching profession informs herself/himself beforehand totally about the aspects of the job, what it pays and what the demands and stresses are that are part of it.
If a person stumbles blindly into this and finds out later that it is not a cakewalk, not well paid and too stressful there is always the option of a career change, we do live in a free country.
Have a great weekend!
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