Apparently choosing not to do volunteer/ extra curricular work is illegal now according to the government.
I am not sure why they are choosing this course of action.
BC is turning more and more into a fascist state. The government is abusing its powers to control unionized workers and it’s all because we don’t fund their campaigns. Please don’t think that it is more complicated than that.
If teachers funded political campaigns like business’s, than there wouldn’t be a 40% cut in public education over the last 9 years and coincidentally private school has seen their funding increase 35% during the same time.
If there was a photo op, then maybe Christy Clark would change her mind. But I wouldn’t bet on that. After all she was the one who legislated teachers back to work in the early 2000′s and thus started the erosion of the public system at the hands of the Liberals.
Just saying is all…
Here is a blog from the Vancouver Sun.
A protest that has resulted in teachers withdrawing from all after-hours activities in B.C. public schools amounts to an illegal strike, the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) alleges.
On Wednesday, it filed an application to the B.C. Labour Relations Board (LRB) seeking an order that would end the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) protest and require teachers to resume all such activities.
The crux of the issue appears to be the definition of extracurricular. The BCPSEA says it is not trying to force individual teachers to coach sports teams, for example, but does not accept the union’s broad definition of what constitutes voluntary activities.
“The BCTF has directed its members to withdraw a very broad range of duties that teachers typically perform as part of their teaching job, based upon the fact that those duties are typically performed either before or after the school bell rings,” the association says in a statement. Those activities include parent-teacher interviews, student tutorials, writing reports and talking to principals.
“The BCTF’s call for service withdrawal captures both duties that are clearly and expressly required of all teachers and duties that are performed by some teachers at those teachers’ option.
“In our view, the BCTF’s direction to its members to engage in a concerted refusal to perform these duties constitutes an illegal strike in violation of the Labour Relations Code and the Act,” the association states.
The application was filed one day after BCTF president Susan Lambert sent a letter to members appealing for solidarity as school events are being cancelled or re-scheduled.
“For this part of the Action Plan to be effective, and to ensure that it can be sustained until the end of June, we need to be united and strong around the province,” she wrote. “It takes extraordinary courage for members to make these decisions, and we must support them and each other through this Action Plan.”
She also said the union provided a cut-and-dried definition of extracurricular activities to ensure consistency around the province.
The union has also announced that it is going to B.C. Supreme Court to fight the appointment of Charles Jago as mediator in the contract feud. It had applied to the LRB to have him removed because of a perception of bias, but the board said it lacked jurisdiction. Given the length of time it takes for courts to rule, it’s safe to say Jago will have finished his work before a decision is rendered. He has a June 30 deadline to reach a deal or submit non-binding recommendations to government – and no one expects this to end well.
Jago once described his task as Mission Impossible and I doubt he’s changed his view.
The LRB has set a case management meeting for Friday; no word yet on when a hearing might occur.
