Teachers Strike in British Columbia

Today's weather: High = 10 Low = 2
Cloudy

Found this out from the internet:

http://www.theprovince.com/news/teachers+strike+Monday+protest+arrogance+cynicism+government/6234844/story.html

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Teachers across British Columbia will walk off the job for three days starting Monday.

Early Thursday, the B.C. Teachers’ Federation served notice to employers and the Labour Relations Board that teachers would go on strike after its members voted — 27,946 of 32,209 votes cast, or 87 per cent — in favour of escalating their job action.

On Tuesday, the board ruled teachers could hold a three-day strike if they gave two days’ notice. Subsequently, they may also withdraw services for one day per week, also after giving two days’ notice. Teachers are not allowed to set up picket lines in front of schools.
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I remember clearly that a BC Teachers strike happened 7 years ago, and it affected my practicum while I was in teacher training at that time. Needless to say, history goes around in circles. What hasn't changed is the government is arrogant as ever, and the conditions in classrooms are very difficult. The BCTF teachers union is putting up a fuss, as they always do. Whatever settlement they achieved 7 years ago must have worn off quickly. Maybe it was a case of the government backtracking on their end of the deal, or maybe the BCTF wanted an updated settlement and the government stuck to the old one.

This time round, the parameters of the strike have changed. No more extended strikes and picket lines, as the article points out.

My support for the BCTF wavers. I like their overall view to support education, but I've not been a huge fan of this union, or unions in general. I strongly disagree with their stances on a few issues. But they are miles ahead of the arrogant BC government, which I've never supported regardless of how my political leanings may shift around from "left" to "right" -- which in itself are terms I think are flawed.

I'd support the BCTF strike this time, as I did last time, on the principle of the 'lesser of two evils'. But if it comes down to which party is less evil than the other, then it really doesn't speak very highly of teaching in BC to begin with. Which explains why, thank goodness, I find myself in China.

Here we keep our jobs and earn regular salary, while teachers in BC are surviving on $15 strike pay a day. Not a comforting thought. With Vancouver prices being what they are, that money would be enough to buy a stale donut.

And maybe that's the point of the strike. It's easy to get comfortable with the lifestyle in Asia where prices are reasonable and affordable --- I hate to use the word cheap, rather, the opposite is true. Back home is extortionate and one can go broke in a heartbeat.

Given that things are so expensive in the world's most unaffordable city known as Vancouver, then it's no wonder that the teachers are demanding more compensation so they can at least afford to live. It is something that we easily forget in Asia.