Of course, the government could also enact legislation overturning the Judge's ruling about the illegality of the strike etc. They have overturned labour oriented judicial decisions before when they did not approve of the decision, so the illegality is of no relevance.

in another forum the point has been made that teachers do not work on Saturday and Sunday, so if Bond and De Jong negotiated with them over this weekend they would not be violating the governments insistence that teachers return to work. It is now Sunday, and it looks like that opportunity has been fritted away. I think that is a pity and shows very poor leadership by Bond and De Jong. It still could be done.

The Liberals are too busy posturing and pointing fingers as labour unrest develops all around them to negotiate. I don't blame the teachers for not stopping their "illegal" strike to negotiate(and I use this term loosely - the UN's ILO would argue that the Liberals' use of legislation to strongarm workers is illegal). The government wasn't interested in negotiating before, I sincerely doubt the Liberals will negotiate if picket signs are put down and teachers return to work. The Liberals have a poor track record on telling the truth - we all remember BC Rail, BC Hydro, BC Gas, etc. The Teacher's Collective Agreement passed in the Legislature is a joke and so are the Liberals. Anyone seen Shirley Bond lately?

Terrorists! Only yesterday were we asked to moderate our language. I suspect most of us will agree. Please....

Liberals Vs Teachers?

I recall the NDP being told in no uncertain terms that the teacher's federation wasn't going to be giving them their support.

October 16, 2005
National union (NUPGE) letter of solidarity to teachers

Dear Jinny:

On behalf of the 340,000 members of the National Union of Public and General
Employees, we want to extend our support and solidarity to the BCTF and its
members in your fight to negotiate a fair collective agreement.

The issues facing BCTF members are very familiar to the National Union and
our members. In particular, members of the B.C. Government and Service
Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) and the Health Sciences Association of B.C.
(HSABC/NUPGE) know how difficult it is to negotiate fair collective
agreements in the current political climate in B.C.

In recent years, our members in B.C. and other provinces have seen their
collective agreements ripped up, seen their wages and benefits rolled back,
and spent days on picket lines to defend their legally negotiated rights.

We know the BCTF has never shied away from speaking out on behalf of its
members and students. And we know the recent court ruling will not deter
BCTF members in their fight with the B.C. Liberal government.

We want the BCTF and its members to know that your courageous fight to
improve learning conditions for students by restoring lost services and
specialist teachers is a source of inspiration to all our members across the
country working in many different sectors.

We want to assure the BCTF and its members that as you continue the fight to
achieve fairness for your members and students in B.C., you can count on the
support of the National Union.

And to BC Premier Gordon Campbell, we say this: Those who live in glass
houses ought not to throw stones.

This simple adage contains an important lesson for Premier Campbell's
government and its sad attempt to respond to the BCTF and its members by
resorting to patronizing rhetoric about the rule of law.

Let's take a good look at Premier Campbell's glass house.

In the last three years, the International Labour Organization (ILO), an
internationally-respected agency of the United Nations, has condemned the
Campbell Liberals a total of nine times for violating workers' human rights
by contravening international labour standards that Canada and all
provincial governments have sworn to uphold.

The Liberals have given B.C. the embarrassing record of having more ILO
complaints filed against it than any other Canadian province in the agency's
84-year history.

In fact, there has not been another government in North America found guilty
more often of violating ILO Conventions over such a short period of time.

A government that has abused the power of the legislature, as this one has,
to violate international covenants, fundamental human rights and the
principles of free collective bargaining - by ripping up legally negotiated
contracts and unilaterally imposing contracts - should not be surprised when
its demands for teachers to respect the law fall on deaf ears.

It is fair to ask: what example has the B.C. government set over the past
four years by using its legislative power to repeatedly ram through
legislation violating fundamental human rights?

The right to join a union and to engage in free collective bargaining,
without undue government interference, is a fundamental human right of
working people.

These rights have been long established in conventions developed by the ILO.
Canada and all provincial governments are signatories to these conventions
and, as such, have committed to uphold them.

Yet the passage of Bill 12 is only the latest example of the B.C. government
abusing its legislative power and showing complete disdain for the rights of
teachers.

In fact, teachers have been denied their right to bargain collectively for
the last five years, had their right to strike taken away without being
given access to independent arbitration and had all contractual provisions
ensuring quality learning conditions eliminated.

The B.C. government has repeatedly targeted teachers, violated their human
rights and ignored their legitimate concerns about class sizes and class
composition.

The B.C. Liberals have brought the current situation on themselves.

As everyone knows, workers did not manage to win the right to form unions
and bargain collectively because politicians and employers decided to give
it to them.

Working people gained these rights the hard way. Generations of workers
challenged the privileged and political classes of our country and won them.
Their struggles were long and the opposition they faced was bitter.

The lesson is this: democracy does not work and civilization does not come
about because workers meekly place their future in the hands of people like
Gordon Campbell and his B.C. Liberal government.

We must stand up and fight for our rights as if the cause depends on each
one of us as individual workers. Because, in the end, it does depend on each
of us.

That's what the BCTF and its members are fighting for. You are fighting for
issues that are important to your members and to B.C. students, but you are
also taking a strong stand on behalf of all working people in this country.

You are setting an example of courage and commitment for all Canadians by
standing up for democracy and what is right.

Once again, we want to assure the BCTF and its members that as you continue
the fight to achieve fairness for your members and students across the
province of BC, you can count on the support of the National Union and its
members across the country.

In solidarity,
James Clancy, National President, NUPGE
Larry Brown, Secretary-Treasurer, NUPGE

http://www.wsws.org/articles/2005/oct2005/bc-o11.shtml

[...]

* In 1983, the union bureaucracy strangled a mass movement toward a province-wide general strike against a battery of Social Credit laws that introduced the Reagan-Thatcher model to Canada’s West Coast. As for the NDP, its then leader Dave Barrett deplored the strike movement as illegal and a threat to “democracy” at least as big as the government’s assault on democratic and worker rights.

* The 1991-2001 NDP government in BC paved the way for the coming to power of the Campbell Liberals, by accommodating itself ever-more completely to the demands of big business. Under Mike Harcourt, Glen Clark, and finally Ujjal Dosanjh (now a federal Liberal cabinet minister), the NDP imposed budget and public-sector wage austerity, used legislation to break strikes, imposed new restrictions on teachers’ right to strike, and embraced workfare and the “law and order” rhetoric of the right.

* Workers in BC have repeatedly come forward to challenge the Campbell Liberal government, only to have the unions and NDP leaders isolate strikes and impose concessions-laden agreements on the rank-and-file. Especially noteworthy were the December 2003 ferry workers’ and May 2004 hospital workers’ strikes. In both cases, workers struck in defiance of antiunion laws and their militant action threatened to become the catalyst for a province-wide general strike, since large numbers of workers rightly saw them as challenging the hated Campbell Liberal government.

[...]

krisb: ????????
Yes, shouldn't we all have predicted this situation? Our clearly deranged law breaking teachers will descend into violence in order to solve this dispute, while the Government has already contracted out goons to disrupt picket lines and force the teachers back to work.

I dont think we have to worry about this strike turning violent in the near future, if it does, then I think we have more important issues at hand than a teacher strike.

Terrorists are defines as those who use violence to accomplish political aims 'executed "with disregard" for human life', according to Wikipedia. I hardly think anyone who walks past a teacher's picket line is in fear of their lives and runs screaming into the next street. Even allowing for some degree of hyperbole, the characterisation of teachers as "terrorists" is puerile nonsense, perhaps even a libel. I do find it interesting, though, that the one to raise thoughts of violence was you, not the teachers.

Both sides behaviour is disgusting,the teachers are making a mockery of the justice system and DeJong ,Shirley and Gordo are using our kids as pawns.We have now entered uncharted waters.It shall be interesting.
ROCK

Jack, when you are boxed in it is time to think out side the box. The uinion really does have the children as hostages and it will stay that way until the government rescues them. The government has to open doors in the box to let the children escape the uinions. Leave the uions and teachers the box with nothing in it.

Of course, at the moment the children are free. School's out, remember?

We are all in this together.

Why is it that unions approach their employers with demands and then wonder why their employers get defensive?

The government on the other hand, has been given the responsibility to manage all of the resources we have given them. They are expected to do the best they can with what they have to work with. Their job is to manage the money and try to figure out where it is best allocated.

They are going to make some mistakes. They really do need to hear from those of us in the public who can guide them. They have found themselves in a very unpopular position. I don't believe that they have much support from anyone. They have really mishandled things in my view.

If they really knew what they should do, they wouldn't find themselves in this situation.

So, I suggest everyone contact their MLA's and their Premier in a sensible and tactful manner and share their thoughts with them. They need to hear from us. We can't just ignore them, or they might think we endorse and support the tactics they are using.

I for one am quite disappointed in how things have turned out. I do expect more from our government leaders who have been elected to lead us. Chester