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Teacher Strike 2014
Be leery of this email targeting education support payments
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Parents looking to get the $40-per-day temporary education support payment promised by the government during the B.C. teachers’ strike are advised to be aware of a fraudulent email which includes a link to a false Canada Revenue Agency website. A Maple Ridge woman contacted the RCMP after receiving an email which linked to a site...
What Monday will look like for back to school
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Schools across the province are set to reopen to students Monday now that the provincial government and teachers have successfully negotiated a new contract. Many districts are adopting ‘normal opening day procedures’ for Monday, Sept. 22 and here is a breakdown of what you can expect in each district. Individual schools may adopt...
The agreement that got teachers back to school
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Teachers agreed to a new contract with the government after more than 18 months of negotiations and while not all the details have been released a picture of the deal is starting to emerge. Negotiations began in February 2013 and by the end of the school year the contract expired. Negotiations continued through...
Teachers vote yes, school back in session next week
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The teachers vote is in and school will be back in session next week. A total of 75 per cent of teachers cast ballots Thursday with more than 27,000 voting to accept the agreement. The number of teachers voting was up significantly from ratification votes in 2006 and 2012 and on par with...
Districts planning for back to school
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - As teachers make their decision today whether to ratify a contract agreement with the province, school boards are busy making plans in the hopes that students will be back in school next week. Several districts have already reached out to parents to let them know the plan for next week and most are...
UPDATE: Historic 6-year term, more teachers part of new agreement
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A tentative deal has been reached between teachers and the province and that means students could be back in school as early as Monday. Kamloops-Thompson Teachers Association President David Komljenovic sits on the bargaining committee for the B.C. Teachers’ Federation. He confirmed following a marathon bargaining session ending early Tuesday morning that Monday...
Teacher strike 2014: The timeline
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A lot has happened since negotiations began on the latest contract for B.C. teachers and it’s easy to lose track of how we got to where we are today. Here we take a look back at the basics, where we are and what steps the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the B.C. Public School...
Fassbender: ‘It’s driving me crazy’
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Education Minister kicked off a press conference Monday afternoon with not one, but two movie references (Groundhog Day and Back to the Future if you were wondering), following them with a counter proposal to the teachers’ union second request to enter binding arbitration. Since talks broke down just before school was set to...
UPDATE: General strike in support of teachers put on hold
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Plans to call for a general strike beginning Wednesday have been put on hold while B.C. residents wait for the results of a teachers' union vote on suspending the strike and whether the government will agree to binding arbitration. A group of concerned citizens originally planned a three-day general strike to begin Wednesday...
Teachers’ union continues push for binding arbitration
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Even after the B.C. government said no to binding arbitration this weekend, the teachers’ union won't give up hope. The union feels arbitration could end the strike and get its members a fair settlement. “Binding arbitration is a fair, practical and pragmatic approach,” B.C. Teachers’ Federation President Jim Iker said Monday morning at...
Teachers’ union has plan to get school back in session
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Just two days after saying the union would not consider a vote to suspend the current strike Jim Iker, the teachers’ union president, says they would recommend members vote to suspend the strike if the government is willing to agree to binding arbitration. The B.C. Teachers’ Federation president says this is another option...
Your kids aren’t getting an education so far this year, but international students are
VERNON - While B.C. students remain cut off from school during the teacher strike, some students from abroad are accessing educational resources through international programs in school districts. Vernon school district is one of the provincial leaders in attracting 200 international students this year. Supt. Joe Rogers says they are participating in field trips and other...
TEACHERS’ STRIKE: How much money the Terry Fox Foundation stands to lose
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The kids, the teachers, the government, the parents. We’ve heard over and over again how the current labour dispute is affecting them, but what about the organizations that also rely on schools to help with fundraising? Every year during September, students raise money for the Terry Fox Run but this year, unless teachers and...
“We’re not suspending any strike:” Iker
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Teachers’ union president Jim Iker has declined the Premier's request to suspend the strike while bargaining continues. Earlier today, Christy Clark urged him, before a packed news conference, to allow teachers to vote to end the strike or suspend it. Two hours later, Iker held is own conference and stood his ground. “We’re...
Parents taking control during teacher strike
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With no end to the current labour dispute in sight many parents are wondering how they can make sure their kids do not fall behind in their education — book sections in many stores are picked over, only a few workbooks remaining, and many school-age programs filled up before the summer was even...
Teachers asked to ‘voluntarily stand down’
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - In an effort to get negotiations moving, Education Minister Peter Fassbender met with the lead negotiators today and asked teachers to ‘voluntarily stand down and let classes start while the parties are in mediation.’ Fassbender met with B.C. Teachers’ Federation President Jim Iker and B.C. Public School Employers’ Association representative Peter Cameron Wednesday...
Summer school will be picketed if no deal reached this week
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The teacher collective agreement will be discussed by both sides at a meeting today but the union president says teachers have agreed to strike through the summer if needed. “Mediation is the only way to bridge the gap between the two sides,” Jim Iker says. “(If no agreement is made) teachers will extend...
Mediator Vince Ready unavailable for B.C. teachers strike
VANCOUVER — Educators huddled Sunday night, trying to come up with a plan B after a veteran mediator declined their invitation to help resolve British Columbia's teachers strike. B.C. Teachers Federation spokesman Rich Overgaard says Vince Ready didn't have time in his busy schedule to mediate the dispute that has closed classrooms to more than...
Teachers unpaid during strike
FUND HAS BEEN EXHAUSTED THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With salaries cut back during the strike and a fund normally used to cover teachers during strike action exhausted, local teacher associations are now setting up hardship funds for those needing help. “There is a slight fund but it’s exhausted. It’s the same fund we used to fight class...
Government responds to BCTF accusations with proposal details
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN — The teacher’s union had its turn this morning to voice displeasure with the government but this afternoon the government put exact details of proposals by both parties up for inspection. B.C. Teacher’s Federation President Jim Iker said this morning the union tabled a ‘fair, reasonable and balanced’ proposal and said it was ignored for...
No deal reached over weekend, teacher strike imminent
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Though the teachers union presented a revised list of demands to the provincial bargaining group over the weekend, a deal was not reached and the union is prepared to wage a full scale strike starting tomorrow. However, there is still hope on both sides that a deal can be reached before the end...
Reactions to full teacher strike vary
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Earlier this week teachers voted to move to a full strike if necessary and Thursday morning the teachers' union gave the necessary 72 hours notice. If an agreement is not reached by the end of the day Monday teachers will begin a full strike Tuesday, June 17. Monday was declared a study session....
What parents need to know about the teacher strike
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Teachers in B.C. voted overwhelmingly in favour of moving to a full strike if contract negotiations continue to stall and that could mean an early summer break for some students and limited report cards for others. The history of non-agreement between the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association, the...
Teachers set for third week of rotating strikes
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN — Teachers in B.C. are preparing for a third week of rotating strikes and they will also decide early next week whether they launch a full strike before the end of the school year. The B.C. Teachers’ Federation announced Thursday afternoon rotating strikes will take place Tuesday through Friday next week. In school districts...