Leaked document says teachers prepare to strike, union says its not their paper

VICTORIA – The long-standing animosities between British Columbia’s unionized teachers and the Liberal government have surfaced again with the release of a document that outlines the union’s strike plans.

B.C. Teachers’ Federation President Jim Iker denies the document was written by the union, but Education Minister Peter Fassbender says the paper was leaked to the government by a union member.

Fassbender says he’s concerned the document lays out a three-phase plan that includes rotating strikes followed by a provincewide strike.

Iker says he finds the timing of the document release perplexing as it comes when contract talks are set to resume and teachers are in the middle of a strike vote.

Iker suggests that the government wrote the document, because it is distributing the paper, but he confirms that a positive strike vote would give the BCTF support to launch job action.

Fassbender says he strongly denies the government had a hand in producing the document.