This is like a game of chiken.

I don't think there will be a winner.

The governments going to get ugly and its going to crystalize what many have said about this government for a long time. The teachers on the other hand will win a moral victory at the expense of a possible thining of the herd.

Time Will Tell

If problems are not resolved at an early stage, they will not simply go away, they will tend to fester and eventually need to be dealt with in revolutionary ways.

The government (whether NDP or Liberal) has taken virtual revolutionary action four times now.

How long does it take for people to understand that you can only hold down the masses so long against their will before there is a revolutionary response?

A group of people have stated by an overwhelming majority that they simply do not wish to work under the conditions imposed and that they will defy the law. There is no judge in this country who can oppose 40,000 people when they are of like mind. We tend not to shoot people for such actions. In fact, we tend to idolize those who have stood up against the law when such law is unjust.

In my view, making teaching an essential service is unjust because it goes far outside the realm of what an essential service is. I wonder if the BCTF has taken the law to the Supreme Court of Canada yet to argue it under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, specifically section 15 (1):

Every individual is equal before and under the law and has the right to the equal protection and equal benefit of the law without discrimination

http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/charter

In my opinion, teachers are not getting equal benefits under the law due to their service being declared "essential". I suspect a good lawyer can show that such a declaration is a frivolous one. My bets would be on BC losing the case.

http://www.bctf.ca/bargain/rights/backgrounder2.html

You may be right Owl, but carrying on such a fight through legal channels would likely take several years. In the meantime teachers would have to accept whatever the government dishes out.

I think the resolution to this problem for teachers (and other groups in a similar position) is the establishment of an objective group to set public sector pay rates. By objective, I mean one that is truly independent of government directives and which the Ministry involved must obey. Surely a reasonably sized group made up from all involved parties (employees, boards, government, unions, public) can make reasonable decisions about important public matters like this.

I'm sure some means of determining that public sector employees share the benefits of the vibrant economy we are told we are experiencing can be found. Whether it is determined on each occasion as a new matter, or some comparison formula worked out for ongoing pay rate adjustments wouldn't matter, but surely reasonable people can reach reasonable accomodations when they want to.

owl, whose rights are greater: the rights of the taxpayers who pay the teachers' wages or the teachers themselves? The government is the voice of the taxpayers, and should definitely supercede the voice of 40,000 teachers.

Recall that leaked memo claiming that if the Liberals won the provincial election that the teachers would go on strike? Well, it looks like it happened. This strike is nothing more than the BCTF attempting to play politics. I hope that teacher wages get decreased as a result of this selfish action on the behalf of the BCTF.

Again, like I said before, I've no pity at all for the teachers here. They're abusing their power as a union, in my opinion. The age of the union is over. Unions lack the ability to quickly adapt to changing sociopolitical situations, and in the modern world, this is a fatal flaw.

Rights are rights, and no person's rights are greater than any other, nor are they any less. Teachers have the right to sell their labour, and the right to be involved in setting the value of that labour, as does their employers. However, their employers are the school district boards, not the government. When Campbell, Bond and the rest of the Liberals interfere in negotiations between employer and employee, then the government is removing the rights of both.

Yes, I know that the government authorises the spending of tax money, but when they unilaterally decide what a settlement should be rather than settling it through free collective bargaining between employees and the employer they are subverting a democratically approved process. If the Liberals want to act as the employer, then let the Ministry of Education negotiate directly with the BCTF and stop pretending they are only an uninvolved third party whose interest is protecting children. That is probably the most egregious nonsense of all.

Incidentally, recall that Campbell stated that the teachers would strike the day after the election. He lied, as did his sycophants

The teachers have broken a law, plain and simple.
If i break a law, especially one ruled on by a judge saying i am in contemp, i pay the price for breaking said law.

How can teachers expect students to respect them , since they are now criminals.
How can any teacher after this tell a student they have done something wrong.

I also hope the RCMP finally grow a set of balls and do whats right here. Arrest them !
They are criminals.
If you do not like a law, try to get it changed.
But here in Canada, a law is a law.
I do not care if you are a teacher, that does not make you above the laws of the land.
I do not agree with every law myself. But if i choose to break them, i should be arrested, as that is supposedly what an RCMP officer is to do.
So i hope i see not radar traps, or other garbage, till they have rounded up the criminals and charged each and every one of them.
This is far more serious than someone driving a few kms over some posted speed. This was ruled on last week by a judge as illegal, and they are in contempt of court.

If we do not follow laws why have any ?

Gee, i think i want more income, i will go rob a bank.
Who cares that its against the law. If the supposed "TEACHERS" disregard the law, why should I, or anyone else take it seriously.

Lets go steal every teachers car, and use it to pull a robbery, and then go burn all the teachers houses down afterwards. WHY you ask?
Why not, they are just laws we would be breaking.
I have read lots on here in the past. this is my first time to post though.
This issue makes me madder than any other by far.
If teachers are breaking the law now, we may as well just abolish all laws and the court system. Let the country go to hell, and have no respect for anything. Because that is what they are teaching us.
I can say i no longer have any respect for the teachers, or there crap !
I hope they get nothing but a criminal record, jail time, and a healthy fine.

Teachers you may not like a law, but either try to change it, or just live with it.
In my eyes you are all just a bunch of law breaking hooligans.
Hope you rot on your illegal picket lines.

The most democratically-approved process is the one that put the Liberals into power. That should trump any other allegedly democratic process.

Instead of striking right after the election, the teachers waited until the first school year the new government was in power. This was a much more strategic move on their behalf. It would be just too obvious to strike right after the election, and it would prove Campbell right. Why would they do that? It would make no sense (insofar as the BCTF is capable of making sense).

The teachers are attempting to hold the government (and by proxy, all taxpayers) for ransom. If they don't get what they want, our children's education suffers. This is outrageous and should not be tolerated. I hope the government forces the teachers back to work with lower wages as a result of this ignorant attempt to hold education for ransom.

Teachers are paid what they're worth. I know people who work harder for minimum wage than teachers do for whatever sum they're paid (which is likely several times greater). Who is more deserving?

Just two points. The first for Marty and his contempt for lawbreakers. I guess you must also have contempt for Gordon Campbell then, he is after all a criminal, having been convicted of drunk driving in Hawaii. How can anyone have any respect whatsoever for his insistence that everybody else must be law abiding but he can ignore the law, in a foreign country no less, thus bringing gross contempt on Canada and BC. He has no right to preach to others, does he?

And to Canar. Cambell stated during the election the teachers would go on strike the day after. They did not. He is a liar. Cut and dried, and you can weasel whatever self serving explanation to try and get out of it you like, he lied! I might also remind you that Campbell and his Liberals are also breaking the law, internationally. They have been sanctioned several times for it by the ILO. Once again, you can use whatever self serving explanation you like to weasel out of it, but that is a fact. What he has is the power, not any right. Don't confuse the two.

Ammomra, are you sure you are not still fighting the election, just like the teachers are? Sure sounds like it!
Campbell didn't defy any court ruling on his actions. Campbell was completely right on the BCTF troubles, and gave us enough warning to elect someone else if we didn't think he could handle the bums.
You are singing a broken record, get some new material.

As I said, you can use whatever self serving weasel words you like, but...

Yamadoopolcat,

So in your mind its okay for the teachers to break the law?

Is that a fair assumption?

As for Campbell, yes he is wrong for having broken a law as well.
I wrote a letter to the editor of 4 newspapers voicing my displeasure with him after his DUI.

I also see this as being a little different.
Campbell screwed up....made a mistake.
He also got arrested and charged.

These teachers, every single one of them is aware of their actions.
Its not an ooopsie.
They are blatantly laughing at he laws of the Country i love.

And as for no respect, do not get me started on those useless cops.
Why do we pay them a thin dime?
If they want the job of law enforcement , then do it....now go arrest every single teacher out on strike you spineless losers....or else you had best turn in your badges and go find a job elsewhere.

I am mad at the teachers for breaking the law...and even more mad at the cops that allow it.

How can either group, teachers or cops ever expect to be shown any respect ever again.
actually if a cop tried to stop me for speeding tomorrow, i would likely spit in his/her face...that is how i feel.
Now if they are done arresting, and charging ever last teacher, and then stop me for speeding.
I will take the ticket with a smile and even say thanks to them for doing their job.

As of now though, what a bunch of hypocrites.

I hope thay are embarassed when they put on their uniform in the morning to go to work.... what a pathetic life it must be to hand out a ticket for j-alking, or speeding, and yet people go that are in contempt of court.
Show some pride in your work you officers.
Or else as i said quit.
And you criminal dirt bag teachers, how dare you ask for more than bread and water...you are low life criminals, and nothing more.

I hope you don't get a raise of one cent.

Either play by the rules or leave.
Its that simple.