School District 57 Board Calls for Dispute Resolution

Thursday, October 20, 2005 04:04 AM

School District 57 has finally spoken out on the teacher’s dispute, in the form of a letter which show support for the teachers, and presses for a negotiated settlement.

The Board has sent a letter to Premier Gordon Campbell, Labour Minister Mike deJong, Education Minister Shirley Bond, MLAs Pat Bell, John Rustad and Bob Simpson, the BCTF, and the BC Public School Employers Association.

The letter is also copied to the Prince George and District Teachers Association, the BC School Trustees Association and is to be circulated to all the Boards in the Province.

“The Board believes an expedited resolution of this dispute is in the best interest of its students.

The Board wishes to emphasize its support for the work teachers do, and stresses the importance of maintaining a relationship of respect between our teachers and the Board.
This relationship is critical for student success, and the Board believes it is best supported through an agreed upon process that leads to future negotiated settlements.

The Board therefore urges all parties to meet so that outstanding issues can be dealt with in a constructive manner with our students first in mind.

We would further ask all parties to work with the industrial inquiry commission to establish an effective process for negotiated settlements in the future.”

Board Chair, Bill Christie says Board members have already received several e-mails from its teachers thanking them for speaking out. Christie says a letter might have been sent sooner, but this week was the first opportunity to have all the Trustees together to deal with the matter.

Teachers are still on the picket lines, but BCTF President Jinny Simms has issued a hopeful message:

“We are in talks. We have been waiting for these talks for a long time. Vince Ready is facilitating these discussions and I am hopeful—hopeful that we will get to a resolution soon so that our students and our teachers can be back in the classroom where they want to be.”

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Posted on Thursday, October 20, 2005 04:04 AM in News by Elaine Macdonald

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Comments

Posted by: YamaDooPolCat on October 20 2005 7:25 AM

Really, the letter does not say they support teachers demands at all. Without teachers the board has no function is what the letter really says.
"Support for the work the teachers do" does not equal support for what teachers are doing. Anyone that interpets those words to mean anything else is dreaming.
The rest of the letter is platitudes. I'd even sign it and I do not support the teachers one bit. Nice letter.

Posted by: rock on October 20 2005 7:33 AM

What a joke,Christie and his board should have been on this from the minute the illegal stike started,pathetic.
Rock

Posted by: ammonra on October 20 2005 8:43 AM

If you read it over and over again, I'm sure you could split the hairs even finer. It clearly contradicts government policy and calls for negotiations, something the government has repeateedly refused and the teachers are demanding. How much clearer do you want it to be?

If you would sign the letter yourself, why not copy it word for word and send a personal copy with your signature on to Campbell, and Bond, and De Jong and company. Put you money where your mouth is.

Posted by: Canar on October 20 2005 1:14 PM

A theory I heard the other day was that the government used the legislation it passed to deliberately provoke teachers into striking. The laws gave it the upper-hand, and prevented the teachers from doing anything about their situation legally. As such, all the government needs to do is sit back until this one sorts itself out. They are now in a position to not have to do a single thing about it, just wait for it to escalate so they can take legal and perhaps violent measures to end it.

I'm not sure about the validity of that theory, but it was a fun idea anyhow. I personally believe that as the Liberals have the mandate of the majority, their power should be much greater than the protests of this minority. Sometimes difficult decisions need to be made.

Posted by: Palopu on October 20 2005 5:26 PM

Friday will be 10 days that the Teachers have been out. As we all know they are in contempt of court (Civil Law) and after to-morrow may well be in contempt of court (Criminal Law) The judge in this case has been more than fair in giving the Teachers the opportunity to obey the law and return to work. I would bet that if Teachers are still out on Friday that she will not be so accomodating. The next move by the Judge will be to assess heavy fines on individual Teachers, and on the Union, along with a warning to obey the law or face possible jail time. The Teachers should be aware that they are as individuals liable for their actions, which will be considered as separate from the Unions actions. This means that they could be subject to fines of up to $500.00 per day for every day they stay out on this illegal strike. This fine may or may not be retro active. There have been precedents on this type of labour disruption in the past, and there is no doubt that the Teachers will be held responsible for their actions. Now is the time for them to take some time to realize this is a serious matter and requires mature attention.

Posted by: spider on October 21 2005 12:47 PM

Perhaps teachers should go back and start getting wages again. Do the minimum amount of work. Not worry about the students who have no text books or have to share a desk. No extra-curricular activities of course, and those special needs children will get by with 5 minutes individual attention each day. This government is not concerned about the quality of education, so why worry?
Who cares if they legislate maximum class sozes of 45, it will save money for the Olympics in 2010.