Students at Osoyoos Secondary School and Osoyoos Elementary School are not expected to miss any more classes as a result of the labour dispute between the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) and the province’s Ministry of Education as Minister of Education George Abbott has confirmed he expects Bill 22, which would prohibit further strike action, to pass by Thursday.
Osoyoos teachers joined more than 41,000 fellow members of the BCTF and walked off the job for three days from March 5-7 to voice their displeasure with the lack of progress in talks with the provincial government.
British Columbia teachers have been curtailing all extracurricular activity since the beginning of the school year in September after talks with the province broke down. Teachers have been working without a contract for almost a year.
Late last week, Abbott introduced Bill 22, which would put an end to the labour dispute and force teachers to return to the classroom. If teachers continued any further walkouts after passage of Bill 22, the BCTF would be facing massive fines and individual teachers would be fined $475 per day.
Bill 22 would not only legislate teachers back to work, but would force both sides to accept mediation over the coming weeks and months.
Marieze Tarr, chair of the board of trustees for School District No. 53, which operates and administers the secondary and elementary schools in Osoyoos, said Monday she doesn’t expect any more strike action by teachers considering Bill 22 is about to become law and the annual two-week March break begins Friday in most jurisdictions across the province.  Several school boards across the province started their March break this week.
It doesn’t appear students will miss any more classes in Osoyoos, said Tarr.
“The teachers union did not serve any strike notice for this week that I know of, even though we had heard rumblings they might consider strike action on Friday, but that hasn’t been confirmed and I doubt that will happen considering no strike notice has been given and March break starts Friday,” she said.
“From what I know right now, there won’t be any more job action until after the March break so it’s business as usual at our schools for this week. Obviously a lot is going to happen between now and the end of March break, but for this week, it’s business as usual.”
The BCTF has its annual general meeting set for this weekend and she’s sure future job action will be talked about at length during this meeting, said Tarr.
BCTF president Susan Lambert lashed out at the provincial government Monday, saying they have no intention of working out a deal.
“Since February 20, the B.C. Teachers’ Federation has been working diligently with the LRB to get an independent mediation process under way, unconstrained by preconditions,” said Lambert. “We agreed to modify our proposals significantly and made it clear that teachers were willing to compromise on every objective, including salary. As I have said many times, everything is negotiable.
“But the government’s complete intransigence at the LRB, coupled with its move to push Bill 22 through the Legislature by this Thursday, have dashed any hope for a mediated settlement.”
Lambert said she phoned Abbott last Friday to ensure he was aware of the process ongoing at the LRB and the BCTF’s willingness to engage in meaningful mediation.
LRB Associate Chair Michael Fleming said Monday he isn’t optimistic either.
“I am unable to conclude that, at this juncture, the appointment of a mediator under Section 74 would be of any actual assistance in helping the parties to achieve a collective agreement,” said Fleming.
“It’s now perfectly clear that this government never intended to allow an independent mediation process to take place. They simply aren’t interested in a fair solution, only in further attacking teachers’ rights to bargain collectively,” Lambert said, adding teachers have tried every possible avenue to reach an agreement: working with the government’s fact-finder, calling for mediation, even agreeing to arbitration.
“By contrast, the government has refused to budge one iota off its opening position of net zero and deep, damaging concession demands. Now they are aggressively pushing Bill 22 through, even as they’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars on advertisements attacking teachers.”
Melanie Joy, chair of the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association, has written to Abbott calling for an independent mediator.
“Teachers across the province are frustrated and angered by the government’s insistence on the legislative hammer,” Lambert said.
“Bill 22 does much more than eliminate teachers’ bargaining rights. It also absolves government of any obligation to provide the funding needed so that every child can receive a program of learning tailored to their individual needs.”
The BCTF’s 96th Annual General Meeting will take place in Vancouver, March 17–20. About 700 teachers from across the province will come together to debate and decided on a plan of action to oppose Bill 22.