Local schools are definitely feeling the pinch due to job action by teachers.

The biggest impact has been on student supervision, which teachers are not providing as part of their dispute with the provincial government.

“Unfortunately job action always increases the pressure and workload on administrators as they have to pick up the supervision jobs normally done by teachers,” said school board chair Marieze Tarr.

She added that senior staff normally provide relief (with supervision) to schools, so it does put extra pressure on them too.

“Job action is always a difficult time for all other staff and frustrating for everyone as we cannot move ahead with many initiatives,” Tarr said.

Unlike other districts, the Okanagan-Similkameen district is not considering cancelling recess at this time, she pointed out. “We are grateful to all administrators and senior staff for going above and beyond at this time.”

Jim Iker, president of the BC Teachers’ Federation, said 10 school districts, including the Central Okanagan, have taken the “unnecessary and inappropriate step” of cancelling recess.
“The vast majority of school districts across BC have not cancelled recess and those that have should reconsider,” said Iker. “Principals, vice-principals, and excluded staff are more than capable of supervising the playground for 15 minutes each day.”

Iker said supervision was one of the issues addressed at the Labour Relations Board between the BC Public School Employers’ Association and the teachers’ federation.

The subsequent Labour Relations Board order states that “before/after school supervision related only to bus drop-off and pick-up, and recess and noon hour supervision will continue to be provided by teachers . . .  subject to the employer utilizing management and excluded staff to the best extent possible to replace teachers for these activities.”
“The school districts that have cancelled recess have done so because it is inconvenient to principals and management staff. They have not even tried to find coverage as per the order from the Labour Relations Board,” Iker said.
He added that any recess cancellations falls squarely on the shoulders of school districts unwilling to move their staff around. Furthermore, teachers will continue to do previously scheduled voluntary activities, according to Iker.

“As such, there is no reason for any districts to cancel events, trips, or extra-curricular activities.”

Bev Young, district superintendent of schools, said job action has resulted in a few meetings being cancelled, as well as a training session.

Meanwhile district staff is able to support school administrators with supervision, she noted.

Sylvia Slater, president of the South Okanagan-Similkameen Teachers’ Union, said they find it very difficult to be in stage one of job

“It’s second nature for teachers to supervise students and engage in dialogue with administration. Teachers are always problem solving, asking questions and collaborating formally and informally with all education partners, so it’s difficult to stop that behaviour.”

Though some in-service opportunities for teachers have been cancelled, the impact that job action is having on students has been limited, Slater said.

“As difficult as job action is, teachers are committed to getting a negotiated collective agreement,” she stated, adding that more resources are needed in many areas of public education.

Karen Somerville, president of the Parents Advisory Council for Tuc-el-Nuit Elementary, said parents appreciate the extra effort made by school administrators during the teachers’ dispute.

“We hope a mutually beneficial resolution will be found before the school’s year end.”

Teachers want a salary increase of 13.5 per cent over three years, while the government has offered increases of 7.25 per cent over the first six years of a proposed 10-year contract.

Peter Cameron, the government’s chief contract negotiator, said the teachers’ wage demands are threatening the province’s credit rating. He noted the wage demands are four times higher than most other public sector unions.

Lyonel Doherty

Oliver Chronicle