Government and BCTF should avoid the same old rhetoric
As a strike vote by teachers looms in the very near future both sides in what seems like yet another inevitable political and public relations war should be wary of using the same old rhetoric.
And we are definitely not pointing the finger just at the B.C. Teachers Federation.
Gordon Campbell's Liberals have done nothing to hide their anti-BCTF perspective and that is something that just won't wash this time around. When the Liberals first rose to power, dominating the B.C. legislature, they did so with a strong mandate to get B.C.'s fiscal house in order. It was belt-tightening time and the people of B.C. obviously understood that. That also meant no pay raises for public sector employees. But was then and lot has changed in the half-decade since the Liberals won its first election.
B.C. is booming. Business hasn't been this strong in years and the economy has definitely turned around.
That means that simply saying there is no money for pay increases for teachers isn't right or fair. When times were tough teachers didn't get any pay increases, and if we are to avoid the massive pay increases of the late 1980s and 1990s, then fair, but moderate pay increases should be put in place.
Equally, the BCTF needs to be up front and tell the people of this province that what they really need is a reasonable pay increase and not revert to the rhetoric of telling us how they are putting our kids' needs ahead of theirs. That also won't wash.
Things are good in B.C. today and that should also extend to the public sector. After all, they helped carry the burden when things weren't nearly as good as they are now.
