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Districts planning for back to school
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - As teachers make their decision today whether to ratify a contract agreement with the province, school boards are busy making plans in the hopes that students will be back in school next week. Several districts have already reached out to parents to let them know the plan for next week and most are...
UPDATE: Historic 6-year term, more teachers part of new agreement
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A tentative deal has been reached between teachers and the province and that means students could be back in school as early as Monday. Kamloops-Thompson Teachers Association President David Komljenovic sits on the bargaining committee for the B.C. Teachers’ Federation. He confirmed following a marathon bargaining session ending early Tuesday morning that Monday...
Teacher strike 2014: The timeline
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - A lot has happened since negotiations began on the latest contract for B.C. teachers and it’s easy to lose track of how we got to where we are today. Here we take a look back at the basics, where we are and what steps the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the B.C. Public School...
Fassbender: ‘It’s driving me crazy’
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The Education Minister kicked off a press conference Monday afternoon with not one, but two movie references (Groundhog Day and Back to the Future if you were wondering), following them with a counter proposal to the teachers’ union second request to enter binding arbitration. Since talks broke down just before school was set to...
UPDATE: General strike in support of teachers put on hold
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Plans to call for a general strike beginning Wednesday have been put on hold while B.C. residents wait for the results of a teachers' union vote on suspending the strike and whether the government will agree to binding arbitration. A group of concerned citizens originally planned a three-day general strike to begin Wednesday...
Teachers’ union continues push for binding arbitration
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Even after the B.C. government said no to binding arbitration this weekend, the teachers’ union won't give up hope. The union feels arbitration could end the strike and get its members a fair settlement. “Binding arbitration is a fair, practical and pragmatic approach,” B.C. Teachers’ Federation President Jim Iker said Monday morning at...
No school, no extra-curricular activities
KAMLOOPS - With teachers on strike it is more than classroom eduction suffering, many extra-curricular activities, likes Girl Guides, preschool and sports, are being left out in the cold. School District 73 Supt. Karl de Bruijn says pretty much all program rentals are on hold right now. “We have no way of cleaning or locking...
Fassbender not a fan of binding arbitration
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The education minister was not willing to say no to a proposal put forward by the teachers’ union this morning, but he did go as far as saying he is not a fan of binding arbitration. During a press conference this afternoon, Peter Fassbender said binding arbitration takes away the responsibility of the...
Teachers’ union has plan to get school back in session
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Just two days after saying the union would not consider a vote to suspend the current strike Jim Iker, the teachers’ union president, says they would recommend members vote to suspend the strike if the government is willing to agree to binding arbitration. The B.C. Teachers’ Federation president says this is another option...
PROSKIW: The lesson of the day: It’s okay to fight dirty
At a recent B.C. Teachers Federation anti-government rally, one of the speakers brought someone with her to the microphone. Her five-year-old son was suddenly before 300 cheering people on the side of a busy highway. The boy tries to hide in her arms a few times but after some gentle prodding he eventually parrots “I want school.”...
TEACHERS’ STRIKE: How much money the Terry Fox Foundation stands to lose
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The kids, the teachers, the government, the parents. We’ve heard over and over again how the current labour dispute is affecting them, but what about the organizations that also rely on schools to help with fundraising? Every year during September, students raise money for the Terry Fox Run but this year, unless teachers and...
“We’re not suspending any strike:” Iker
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Teachers’ union president Jim Iker has declined the Premier's request to suspend the strike while bargaining continues. Earlier today, Christy Clark urged him, before a packed news conference, to allow teachers to vote to end the strike or suspend it. Two hours later, Iker held is own conference and stood his ground. “We’re...
Parents taking control during teacher strike
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With no end to the current labour dispute in sight many parents are wondering how they can make sure their kids do not fall behind in their education — book sections in many stores are picked over, only a few workbooks remaining, and many school-age programs filled up before the summer was even...
TEACHERS’ STRIKE: Huge rally planned Wednesday; Soccer fields closing?
WEST KELOWNA – Christy Clark's constituency office better get used to company. More than 200 people gathered out front of the Premier's West Kelowna constituency office on Dobbin Road today—what should have been the first day of school—to add pressure in her dispute with the province's teachers and a whole lot more may be coming...
At least someone’s getting a laugh over the teachers’ strike
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - It appears someone working for the provincial government's web department has added a little ironic wit—if not annoying editorial—to the rhetoric on the teachers strike. When all hope of ending the teachers strike before Sept. 2 was lost on the weekend, the B.C. government opened up its website so parents can register to...
STAHN: One more loss to the teachers strike
I always loved back to school time as a kid. It meant new clothes, new school supplies and getting to see all my friends again after what seemed like forever. This year students have been stripped of that experience and parents have been denied the ability to plan and schedule based on a normal school...
Teachers asked to ‘voluntarily stand down’
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - In an effort to get negotiations moving, Education Minister Peter Fassbender met with the lead negotiators today and asked teachers to ‘voluntarily stand down and let classes start while the parties are in mediation.’ Fassbender met with B.C. Teachers’ Federation President Jim Iker and B.C. Public School Employers’ Association representative Peter Cameron Wednesday...
Kamloops teachers back to picket lines
KAMLOOPS - The pickets are back up as we close in on the last week of summer break, and with that the hope of being able to start school on time is dwindling. After a break over the summer, teachers hit the pavement again Monday and plan to be there every day until a deal...
Options for back to school as strike continues
KAMLOOPS - As of Friday morning, B.C. teachers are still on strike and with only three weeks before back to school it’s time to start planning for what to do with your kids if a deal cannot be made before Sept. 2. Monica van der Meulen of the YMCA says the local group will be...
Teachers union, province too far apart for mediation
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The teacher’s union and the province are too far apart for mediation to be productive, a potential mediator has decided, and the union is blaming the province. B.C. Teacher’s Federation President Jim Iker says exploratory discussions with B.C. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Kelleher and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association saw the government...
ARCHER: Trustees take a stand for students
If you’ve been following the teachers’ strike over the past few weeks, you know negotiations between the provincial government and teachers' federation have not been going… at all, really. We all feel helpless waiting for them to figure it out but think of school board trustees who are used to having some power and control...
Local school board putting pressure on both sides in teachers strike to settle
PENTICTON - The local school board is writing to provincial education officials urging them to come to a settlement agreement. The board held a special meeting this morning to discuss what information trustees want included in the letter to be sent to the Ministry of Education and the B.C. Teachers’ Federation. The idea of a...
Summer school will be picketed if no deal reached this week
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The teacher collective agreement will be discussed by both sides at a meeting today but the union president says teachers have agreed to strike through the summer if needed. “Mediation is the only way to bridge the gap between the two sides,” Jim Iker says. “(If no agreement is made) teachers will extend...
STAHN: Who the strike is really hurting
‘This is not the way I wanted it to end.’ It’s a line I heard over and over again during the teacher strike. It’s applicable to both retiring teachers and the students who saw their school year end with less than 24 hours notice. Many of the students, abruptly told last Thursday would be their...