Teachers rally, protest stalemate

By MIKE YOUDS,

MICHELE YOUNG,

and MEL ROTHENBURGER

Kamloops teachers took their frustrations over stalled bargaining to the street today, with more than 200 of them rallying at the Summit-Columbia Street intersection, garnering loud honks of support from passing motorists.

The lunchtime rally came on a day labelled as a “study session” and after a weekend of bargaining that ended in a disappointing stalemate.

Barring an improbable last-minute capitulation by union or government negotiators, teachers will be in full strike mode Tuesday for the first time in almost a decade.

“Very disappointed,” said Janet Hopkins, a South Kamloops secondary teacher who joined the public show of solidarity drenched by rain.

Some students attended as well. The rally came after a morning study session at Valleyview Arena that was filled to capacity with teachers from across the district.

“We need to stay firm on class size and composition,” said Val Williams, citing Supreme Court decisions the provincial government is appealing. “It’s very clear, and then we can just get back to the table.”

“I was quite hopeful all weekend,” said Ken McGillivray. “I thought we’d get a deal.”

Kamloops-Thompson Teachers Association president Jason Karpuk didn’t quite know what to make of varied accounts about negotiations between Friday and Sunday.

“All I can say is that we’ve been at the table, which is very different from what the government has been coming out and saying,” he said, implying the union’s readiness to deal.

“It’s very clear the public is on our side,” said Karpuk. “Teachers are really frustrated that we have to stand up for what is right for kids.”

There were students and parents at the rally, he noted. “This is bigger than the teachers.”

“Salary, if you talk to most teachers, that’s not the issue,” said Dallas elementary music teacher Daniel Silverberg.

“We are concerned that the public doesn’t always get as much information as they should, so that we want to make sure the public knows that we are trying our best to have a good public education system, and there’s a lot more to that than just salaries.

“So let’s not simplify things, let’s keep in mind that there are real students who need the supports in place.”

Alana Wassing, who teaches at Pacific Way, said teachers were disappointed the B.C. Public School Employers Association “didn’t come more ready to negotiate” on the weekend.

“I don’t feel they’re really coming to the table in good faith right now.”

 

The last time the B.C. Teachers Federation a full strike was in October 2005, an illegal strike that protested imposition of a contract by the Gordon Campbell Liberal government.

Teachers refused to back down then despite a Supreme Court decision ordering them back to work. After two weeks, mediator Vince Ready’s recommendations were accepted and teachers returned to their jobs.

Parent Advisory Council president Kim Watt-Senner said today she wasn’t surprised the teachers’ dispute doesn’t seem to be coming to a quick end.

Her nine-year-old son was with a babysitter, but she expected he’d be with her during the rest of the week while she also watches over some of her employees’ children.

As the owner of Everything Organized, Watt-Senner hires mostly mothers, many of whom have elementary aged children. They don’t have child care arranged or can’t afford it, so she’s providing it to them free of charge so they can work, she said.

But as the head of the school PAC, she faces crossing the picket line during the strike to go in and sign checks for vendors who have provided services or products.

“We have to cross the picket so others get paid,” she said. As a small-business owner, she doesn’t want to leave others waiting for payment because of the labour dispute.

The strike also resulted in the cancellation of the PAC’s staff appreciation event.