Teachers to meet with Fassbender

 

NEWS/ SCHOOLS — Negotiators for teachers and government will meet today for the first time in weeks.

Representatives from the B.C. Teachers Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers Association will meet with Education Minister Peter Fassbender in Victoria, reports the Canadian Press.

There were no details on whether mediator Vince Ready would become involved in meetings or what was on the agenda for today’s meeting.

Teachers have been on strike since before the end of the last school year, and with classes scheduled to start for a new school year on Sept. 2, hopes have been fading that continuing the walkout into the fall can be avoided.

Kamloops teachers returned to the picket lines this week at School District 73 secondary schools. At a conference in Kamloops last weekend, BCTF president Jim Iker urged teachers to hold strong and demanded that the government come back to the bargaining table.

“My message to the minister today and his rhetoric of 24/7 bargaining is let’s see it. How about tomorrow? Let’s get this deal done,” Iker said during a speech Sunday.

“The holdout has been government and their unwillingness to enter full-scale mediation and compromise…We’re ready to negotiate anytime. We’ve been ready all summer.”

Kamloops-Thompson School District administrators have warned parents that plans for the first day of school next week could be interrupted if the strike isn’t settled before then.