Not here. They've yet to show that their desire for money will have any positive benefit whatsoever. Right now they look less like grown adults and more like whiny children upset that the election didn't go their way.

Also, remember that this study is by the BC Federation of Labour. Hm, I wonder where the bias lies here?

Nice comments Canar, you make it clear where your bias lies. Sure money is a factor, but the bigger issues are bargaining rights, class size and support staff. Your just determined not to consider that argument. Also, if you look at other recent labor disputes such as CBC and Telus, you'll see they were more about bargaining rights and job outsourcing than wages.

To Canar: You would be surprised of the support we are getting. Some people have taken the time to truly understand the reasons why we have walked out. I have a lot of respect for parents who have asked me questions and have tried to understand my point of view. They don't all share my view but have at least shown respect.

Legality of the actions of the teachers is still an issue with me. The Liberals were elected by a recognized majority who accepted the agenda and the decisions of this government. (this is their second term) The teachers are bound by an employment contract with specific legislation directed at their activities. If public support was and is truly with the teachers then have some patience and vote appropriately in the next provincial election. If the teachers cannot wait then why would they not have pursued this aggressive action at the start of the summer. It would have been politically expedient to do so at this time maximizing exposure with the public to demonstrate that the teachers were trying to resolve this issue before the start of the school year and minimize the impact on the most vulnerable, the students.

Sue: I've yet to see any coverage that's shown me any reasons to be sympathetic to the teacher's views. The government put out an interesting full-page ad in the Citizen today that shows some of the rebuttals to the teachers' arguments. They provide a few more hard facts than some opinion poll. If you'd like to provide a sympathetic viewpoint that isn't laughably flawed, like Teacher's in the last discussion, I'm willing to listen.

My bias is clear, and I'm making no effort to misrepresent it, unlike the Federation of Labour.

Good luck to you teachers,but sometimes in life there are fights you just can't win.Ms Simm has sold you a bill of goods that she cannot deliver.Tommorow Gordie is going to lower the boom and start to hit YOU and YOUR UNION where it hurts the most,in the pocket book $$$$ get ready for some huge fines.Hell you thought he was a bully before wait and see what he does next.
ROCK

That's an interesting, and perhaps unconscious, comment that "Gordie is going to lower the boom." The application to the courts was by the School Boards bargaining council, and to a judge in a court, but "Gordie" is the one you see calling the shots. Doesn't that really put the whole issue in perspective?

Just my opinion,time will tell.
Rock

An afterthought. If the Federation of Labour clearly identified themselves as the ones who commissioned the poll, how can they be misrepresenting it?

All this reteric and back and forth crap slinging means nothing as it is just plain and simple breaking of the law. And then to find out that only 50 % of the biggest whiniest group of people in the province voted to strike just shows me that it is the squeaky wheels that want the grease this time. Please reply cause i am interested in listening to your explanation of this one.

50% of the collective voting for strike action? Come on if you are going to embrace civil disobedience and make the comparison with the efforts of Martin Luther King and Gandhi first of all you should be willing to accept the consequences of your actions, ensure that your cause is worth it and make sure that collective supports the strike action. 50% of the collective voting to support the civil disobedience is laughable and the public will perceive it as such

Who said 50% of the teachers voted and how do you know? How many of the electorate voted to get the liberals in? They only won with 37% of that vote--so who has a voting majority there? If some teachers didn't vote too bad--guess they should have--just like the provincial elections huh? Remeber the word 'democracy' where the majority rules. Shirley has it way out of whack about how many teachers are crossing picket lines--it's another liberal lie to convince the public that the teachers are the bad guys. Sorry, everyone knows, Canada wide, the liberals are 'bad guys'.

Well supertech if you watched the news or listened to it you would know that only 22,000 votes were cast, not all in favor of strike, of some 40,000+ teachers in the province. You do the math. And as for the Liberals being the "bad guys" we should maybe think of what happened with the NDP government in power in B.C. prior to the liberals getting in.
Stealing from Seniors charities, fast ferries, gaming licences for friends and so on and so on. Oh yeah did I mention the excellerated debt under the NDP. At least the Liberals made the province get back to work and bring some investment back into the province and not cower to the celery crunching, tree hugging, union mentality "profit is not a dirty word" pinheads that think the world owes them something other than a paycheck for a days work.

Surely it's not a case of how many voted, but of how many are supporting the strike, According to the TV news last night 12 teachers crossed the picket line in Victoria (??), apparently less than 1% of the teachers in that area. 99% support is pretty good, and means the vast majority of those who did not vote with their pens are supporting the action by voting with their feet.

I think we have a flawed education system. I was told that we have an education system that is designed to teach students how to learn, rather than produce employable people. (Wow, did I have that one wrong)

I wonder why graduates from university's don't know the first thing about marriage and interpersonal relationships, don't know anything about raising children and the responsibilities of being a parent, don't know anything about purchasing their first home, don't know anything about choosing their first mortgage, don't know anything whether they need life insurance or how to balance their check book, or how to invest for their future, or ?????

So, let me figure this out again. The purpose of education is not to create employable people or to prepare them for the main decisions or responsibilities they will face as soon as they get out of University. So, what is the point again?

Just what is it about our education system that we are fighting to protect again?

Really, it is about money, isn't it?

I don't see any of the academia trying to improve how we teach or what we teach. It seems to be more important to hire Professors who can write papers than who have the ability to teach anything they have learned.

Ok, I realize I am directing my disallusionment towards higher learning, I apologize.

Remind me again, is the issue money, class size or preserving the current education system we have in place now?

I think I am ready for change, what do you think? I don't really support anyone going on strike for any reason.

Keep in mind that we as the taxpayers are the real employers. Better make sure where your support is and how many really will stand out on the picket line with you.

It's one thing to yip it up, it's quite another to take a stand for what you believe is worth fighting for. How far will you go to support our teachers and our education system?