Striking teachers say no contact from government despite premier’s claim

VANCOUVER – Premier Christy Clark says the B.C. Teachers' Federation needs to find its way to a settlement zone.

Clark says several public sector unions have recently settled contracts, and she believes the teachers should take a lesson from their colleagues and find their way to the same zone in order to resolve a nearly month-long, full-scale strike.

She says she's not content to let the job action fester over the summer, adding the government negotiator is on the phone every week, asking the teachers to return to the table.

But union president Jim Iker says if there has been regular telephone contact from the government, the caller is not being put through to him.

Iker says his members also want a deal before September but he believes mediation offers the best possibility for a breakthrough.

B.C.'s roughly 40,000 public school educators walked out on June 17, with the main issues in the dispute focused on wages and teaching conditions such as class size and the numbers of specialist teachers.