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Teacher Strike 2014
Be leery of this email targeting education support payments
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Parents looking to get the $40-per-day temporary education support payment promised by the government during the B.C. teachers’ strike are advised to be aware of a fraudulent email which includes a link to a false Canada Revenue Agency website. A Maple Ridge woman contacted the RCMP after receiving an email which linked to a site...
Teachers upset over missing day of pay
KAMLOOPS - Kamloops teachers are among the minority in the province not getting paid for the day they spent preparing their classrooms for the first day of school. Kamloops Thompson Teachers Association President David Komljenovic says teachers showed good faith by showing up on the Friday before school was set to start, as well as...
What Monday will look like for back to school
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Schools across the province are set to reopen to students Monday now that the provincial government and teachers have successfully negotiated a new contract. Many districts are adopting ‘normal opening day procedures’ for Monday, Sept. 22 and here is a breakdown of what you can expect in each district. Individual schools may adopt...
The agreement that got teachers back to school
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - Teachers agreed to a new contract with the government after more than 18 months of negotiations and while not all the details have been released a picture of the deal is starting to emerge. Negotiations began in February 2013 and by the end of the school year the contract expired. Negotiations continued through...
Teachers vote yes, school back in session next week
THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - The teachers vote is in and school will be back in session next week. A total of 75 per cent of teachers cast ballots Thursday with more than 27,000 voting to accept the agreement. The number of teachers voting was up significantly from ratification votes in 2006 and 2012 and on par with...
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...
Your kids aren’t getting an education so far this year, but international students are
VERNON - While B.C. students remain cut off from school during the teacher strike, some students from abroad are accessing educational resources through international programs in school districts. Vernon school district is one of the provincial leaders in attracting 200 international students this year. Supt. Joe Rogers says they are participating in field trips and other...
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 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...
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...
Summer programs at risk
KAMLOOPS - Not only are summer school programs at risk due to the ongoing teacher strike action but now summer programs held on school property are also at risk. The B.C. Teacher’s Federation announced this week teachers would picket outside of schools hosting summer school programs if a deal is not reached by June 30....
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...
Mediator Vince Ready unavailable for B.C. teachers strike
VANCOUVER — Educators huddled Sunday night, trying to come up with a plan B after a veteran mediator declined their invitation to help resolve British Columbia's teachers strike. B.C. Teachers Federation spokesman Rich Overgaard says Vince Ready didn't have time in his busy schedule to mediate the dispute that has closed classrooms to more than...
Teachers unpaid during strike
FUND HAS BEEN EXHAUSTED THOMPSON-OKANAGAN - With salaries cut back during the strike and a fund normally used to cover teachers during strike action exhausted, local teacher associations are now setting up hardship funds for those needing help. “There is a slight fund but it’s exhausted. It’s the same fund we used to fight class...