‘Fatigue is in their faces’ as administrators fill the gap caused by school teachers’ job action

NEWS/ SCHOOLS — The fatigue in the faces of Kamloops-Thompson School District administrators is easy to see as they cope with the teachers’ work slowdown, says schools superintendent Dr. Terry Sullivan.

The teachers have been taking “low-level” job action for the past two weeks, refusing to accept certain duties such as supervising at recess, being at work beyond prescribed hours, or attending meetings with management.

Sullivan told The Armchair Mayor News today administrators are feeling the strain of having to fill the gap. Their days are longer, they have more supervision to do and they aren’t always able to attend management meetings as a result.

The “fatigue in their faces” is evident, Sullivan said. “Things start to get stacked up.”

Recesses have been cancelled in several schools in an effort to keep up.

Sullivan said the intention of the job action is to put pressure on the system and it is succeeding, but history shows such pressure doesn’t do anything to resolve disputes, pointing out that teachers’ job action two years ago lasted six and a half months.

“This is going to escalate and it’s going to escalate fairly quickly,” he said, although he wasn’t sure what form it will take.

The B.C. Teachers Federation says unless progress is made in contract talks with the B.C. Public School Employers Association, the next step will be rotating strikes. That would have to go to a vote of members first.