PG District Teachers Association Reaction to Court Ruling

Thursday, October 13, 2005 03:45 PM

The President of the Prince George Teachers Association says she was surprised at the ruling by the Supreme Court on penalties for the teachers defying Bill 12 but her members were committed long ago to see this thing through regardless.

Karen Mackay says “We knew that we would have to be strong enough to support ourselves, our teachers are taking a stand and they knew full well what to expect from all of this. We knew what we were heading for when we got into this and our support continues to be strong.”

The Supreme Court ruled the Teachers Federation cannot use its assets for the next 30 days, meaning, no strike pay for teachers on the picket lines. The Court also ruled, the Union cannot accept funding from another source, and reserved the right to hand down more penalties in the future.

Commenting on the statement by Education Minister Shirley Bond that the teachers support is slipping and a lot of teachers want to cross the picket lines, MacKay says Shirley Bond can’t get this right either.

“There is only one teacher that I’m aware of” she said “and that teacher does not belong to our organization because of their religious beliefs.” As to reports of a second teacher crossing the picket lines, she said she is not aware of that person but added “In the province less than 1 % of the teachers have said they will cross the picket line and that speaks volumes.”

As for a statement that less than 50% of the teachers voted to go off the job, she said it’s another case of the Education Minister not getting the facts correct.

Previous Story - Next Story

Email |

Print |

Facebook |

Twitter |

Digg |

Del.icio.us

Posted on Thursday, October 13, 2005 03:45 PM in News by 250 News

Return to Home

Comments

Posted by: supertech on October 13 2005 7:43 PM

well krisb--you seem to have an in to all the BC teachers no-one else seems to have. I suspect you get your info from Shirleys office, which by the way, is all fabricated info in a feeble attempt to mis-inform the masses. I was a school teacher for 5 years. It was the MOST thankless job I ever entered into. I had other skills to fall back on luckily and said goodbye. We were forced by the BC government to become a union . Then we were forced into province wide bagaining. (That's when the bargaining became a problem) Now the present government has decided to crush the BCTF. Will this ever end? Yes--this time the Gord and Shirley show will be the cause of a general strike and that will kill the liberal party in BC. And we will breath easier with the drunk driver(criminal by federal law) in cold storage.

Posted by: duffer on October 13 2005 8:05 PM

Well Supertech, let's hope we don't go back to the union loving N.D.P. or this province will never recover. I have lived in B.C. since 1970 and the only time we have gone backwards is when the N.D.P. has been the government. Keep the unions going and we might as well be communist. I did not vote Liberal but I applaud them for trying to break these unions that are ruining our province. You mentioned that your were a teacher and left the profession. There are other teachers that should leave also, because they do not care about anyone but themselves and their paycheck and 4 months of holidays per year. I hope their union is bankrupt at the end of this, and the leaders in jail where they belong, or deported back where they came from.

Posted by: supertech on October 13 2005 8:24 PM

I gotta tell ya--you're right about the NDP. But I.m right about the liberals too. Lets vote for someone else this time around.

Posted by: ammonra on October 13 2005 8:28 PM

When I was working I had a co-worker who an Indian. One day a bigot said to her, "Go back where you came from!". her reesponse, "You mean the Fort St. James Reserve?" Bigots deserve their comeuppance once in a while.

Posted by: supertech on October 13 2005 8:59 PM

well said ammonra. Some folks have no common sense and should be wearing KKK uniforms so we can pick them out in a crowd.

Posted by: Tracy on October 13 2005 9:38 PM

So it's 4 months off now? Wow, somebody needs to head back to school to check their math. I am also amused by people who are clearly jealous of the two (2) months that teachers have 'off' in the summer, even though they are UNPAID months. Nevermind the prep/ tweaking of courses, summer projects, and additional schooling that many teachers do in their summers 'off.'

Breaking unions is not a way to run a province unless you are trying to run it into the ground. Remember that many labour rights were won by unions. I am amused by those who believe that unions are ruining this province; I sincerely doubt that they would be willing to give up rights won by unions for all workers.

Posted by: brackencole on October 14 2005 1:53 AM

hey duffer why don't you take your racist bullshit elsewhere

Posted by: acrider54 on October 14 2005 6:26 AM

General stike on the way which I support 100%

Posted by: Big_B on October 14 2005 8:30 AM

Sad sad sad,

I can just see Duffer sitting in his mobile home right now, blaming immigrants and people with coloured skin for ruining his pathetic life.

Outside of the First Nations, this is a country of immigrants.

What a sickening comment!

Posted by: duffer on October 14 2005 10:22 AM

I fail to see how putting someone in jail in jail or deporting them for breaking the law is racist. Perhaps I am missing something here. I have worked with all different races and have nothing against anyone unless they are not doing the job to the best of their ability or stealing or whatever. I guess you are all entitled to your opinions as I am.

Posted by: Big_B on October 14 2005 10:59 AM

Duffer,

What makes you assume that the BCTF president is an immigrant?

Oh I bet you assume that because she speaks with an accent and has coloured skin, she must be an "F%#@ DP" right?

White doesn't always mean right Duffer.

Maybe Hedy Fry's statements a few years back were right.

Posted by: duffer on October 14 2005 11:32 AM

Big B, obviously you have a one track mind so there is no changing it. Do you think people should be able to defy the courts? If that is the case, then I guess I am racist, because I don't think they should. Do you think the East Indian that ran down the lady and killed her in Burnaby should be allowed to stay here as well? No, he should be deported back to where he came from. If you don't obey the laws of this country, then you should be sent back. And yes, if they speak with an accent other than French or native Indian then they are an immigrant.

Posted by: SpeakingOut on October 14 2005 11:40 AM

Whoa guys!! (oops, sorry for the gender slander) this comment section is for the striking/locked out teachers and what our voted in government is doing about it........we need a whole other section on politically correct or incorrect comments about bigotry, prejudism, racism, etc...our country is full of it, our government promotes it, minority groups rule it, and the rest of the country lives with it - get over it.

Posted by: SpeakingOut on October 14 2005 12:30 PM

Check out Roy's comments in the "Letter's to the Editor" section, well done.

Posted by: ammonra on October 14 2005 2:12 PM

The South Asian who was ordered deported was previously found guilty of killing someone. I don't see any killings on the teacher's lines, do you? Chalk and cheese. If we applied your criterion, then every person from another country who missed the deadline for filing taxes would be deported, since that is against the law as well. Get a grip on yourself. The penalty should fit the crime. This "one shoe fits all" scenario is nonsense. Incidentally, he wasn't a Canadian Citizen. That too makes a difference, and believe it or not, there are a few Canadian citizens who speak with accents other than French and aboriginal - the majority in the Country in fact.

As for getting over bigotry, SpeakingOut, never in a million years no matter how much you try to whitewash it with sarcasm.

Posted by: Chester on October 14 2005 9:25 PM

I wonder if the point of this venue is just to allow people to vent their anger or slam the opinions of others.

Quite disappointing actually. I would like to think that cooler heads would prevail and more sensible comments would be posted.

Let's face it, we are all in this together. Everything we do, everything we say has an impact or an influence on others.

We do have laws in place for a reason. We don't have to like them or agree with them. But, as law abiding citizens, we are expected to play within the boundaries of the rules we have in place.

So, whether you agree or not with the court rulings, you must decide for yourself if you are willing to break the law.

Get back to work and change the law in the proper fashion. Change the people who are responsible for making the laws in the first place, if you disagree with them.

After all, they are just people who have been appointed to serve in an area they have been skilled in.

Or, maybe you should consider changing the people who appointed them in the first place.

Any appointments that are made by our politicians have been made for a reason. Don't fool yourselves into thinking that they are isolated from biased thinking or influence.