THE BC TEACHER'S

By Natalie Serafini, Editor-in-Chief

hat strike we’ve been watching with bated breath has continued

its controversial yet consequential march. It’s been an entire
summer in the BC Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) strike, and the
teachers’ and public school system’s future remains uncertain.

On September 10, 99.4 per cent of teachers voted in favour of ending the
strike via third-party binding arbitration; however, the government has voiced
that it is unwilling to participate in this mediation. Said BC Education Minister,

Peter Fassbender, about the prospect of binding arbitration: “It is not in the cards.

It is not fiscally responsible. The BCTF needs to be prepared to put a mediated
settlement in front of their members that addresses class size and composition.”
Right now, one of the more controversial matters on the bargaining
table is proposal E8o; specifically, the clause at the end of E8o that
states, “Note: these provisions supersede and replace all previous articles
that addressed class size, composition, and staffing levels.”
This clause is significant because in 20u, Justice Susan Griffin of the
BC Supreme Court ruled that the government had infringed upon teachers’
Constitutional rights by taking away their collective agreement and bargaining
abilities. As Sandy Garossino for the Huffington Post explains: “when E8o is
drafted to supersede all previous articles, the BCTF says the government is
trying to pull a fast one and nullify the Griffin ruling and the effect of any
subsequent legislation. The government protests that the union is just being
paranoid, it would never try such a low-down dirty trick (good idea though).”
Although Fassbender says that E8o is up for debate, productive
negotiations between the parties have yet to take place.
I was in the seventh grade during a previous teachers’ strike, and I can recall
the emotionality of my teacher as she explained this foreign idea of political

STRIKE, THE BC GOVE

struggle and strife to us. She didn’t want to strike—few teachers do—but she
recognized the need to speak out against the decreasing funds and increasing
pressure on the public school system. Fast forward several years later, and we're in
essentially the same position we were last time. This time it’s more dire though,
with funding cuts, larger classes, and greater need for specialized staff.

The government has persistently attempted to paint BC teachers as out for
money, offering them a signing bonus of $1,200 months ago in an attempt to end the
strike early. While I'll grant you that teachers are woefully underpaid and certainly
deserve a salary increase, that’s not what the strike is about; it’s frankly insulting
to the teachers and students that their needs have been treated so reductively, and
to BC voters at large that our analytical abilities have been so underestimated.

The BC teachers’ strike has always been—since | was in the seventh grade,
and likely since before my memory serves—about the cuts to funding, educators’
autonomy, and support staff. The support staff are incredibly important,
even more so in the context of increasing class sizes. It isn’t possible to take
care of all 30+ students who need help and attention, as well as any students
who need extra help in the form of special education assistants, counsellors,
and the like. All suffer from the lack of available support and resources.

These negotiations aren't new, though: the BC government and the BCTF have
a long and embroiled history together, peppered with strikes and contentious :
legislation aplenty. The BC Liberal Party was elected in 2001, and almost immediately :
we started to see changes to the public school system: it was in 2002 that Bills 27 :
and 28 were enacted, affecting the collective agreement and bargaining rights
of the BCTF, especially with regards to class size and composition. Ensuing
strikes (10 days in 2005, and three days in 2012) pushed for improvements to
the public education system. With little change following Justice Griffin’s 201