Parents, students, teachers and administrators all want to see a negotiated settlement reached with the
BCTF leadership. Unfortunately, negotiations sometimes require that the parties use the available labour
relations tools, such as strikes and lockouts, to help reach an agreement. This information clarifies what the
union’s strike and the employers’ response to the strike might mean to parents and students.
Background:
April 23 – the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) leadership directed its members to begin stage 1 strike
action which meant not doing certain work, including communicating with management, supervising
students outside of class time, and not being at the school an hour before or an hour after the end of
instructional time except for voluntary activities.
May 15 – the employers’ bargaining agent, the BC Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA), advised
the BCTF leadership that in response to its stage 1 strike action BCPSEA would implement a reduction in
pay for the reduction of work currently happening in schools. BCPSEA also advised that there would be
a further reduction should the BCTF leadership initiate their stage 2 rotating strikes. The BCTF leadership
were advised that there would be no reductions in pay if they halted their stage 1 strike action and did not
initiate their stage 2 rotating strikes.
May 20 – the BCTF leadership announced that it would initiate its stage 2 strike plan, which calls for
rotating strikes to close schools starting the week of May 26.
Q: What is going on? Is this a strike or a lockout?
BOTH. The BCTF leadership started stage 1 strike activities in April and will begin stage 2 rotating strikes
starting May 26, closing every school across the province for one day in that week.
In response to the BCTF leadership’s stage 1 strike action, BCPSEA, representing school boards in bargaining
with the union, has issued a partial lock out that includes a pay reduction to reflect the work that is not
being performed by BCTF members in compliance with their stage 1 strike.
Unlike the BCTF’s rotating strikes, BCPSEA’s partial lockout does not mean locking the doors or lost instructional
time. BCPSEA’s response to the BCTF’s strike is designed to avoid direct impacts to student safety
and instructional time while reflecting the labour relations principle of reduced pay for reduced work.
Q: What are you telling teachers not to do as part of the partial lockout?
Consistent with the many duties that the BCTF leadership directed teachers not to perform as part of their
stage 1 strike action, BCPSEA has formally outlined the time and duties they are not being paid to do
as follows:
Information for parents during BCTF strike action
On Thursday 29 May from 6:30PM - 9:00PM we will have our Annual Ceremonial
Review dress rehearsal. During this parade we will be handing out star
level completion badges, doing promotions, teams training award, and handing
our various other badges/awards. All parents are welcome to attend . We
should begin the awards portion around 7PM and that should be complete by
around 730PM. We will also be taking a corps photo that night.
We would like all cadets to be in attendance (this is a mandatory night)
since this will be the last chance to be promoted before summer. If they
miss out, they may have to wait until September to receive their
badges/promotion.
Cadets will be in fill dress uniform for the evening.
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