pending teachers strike, BCTF and the gov't

When was the last time a co worker approached you and told you their dad was raping them? How about the co worker that wanted to talk to you because they need to find a reason not to kill themselves? How about the co worker that can't afford to eat every day and asks for some of your lunch out of sheer desperation. How about the fact that a teacher will spend more time with your child in their most important formative years than you will. Doesn't the Guberment always tell us that they pay the big bucks to their people because "they want to attract the best!" Does your job require you to be in the office 24/7 as you are a representative of the company whether in the office or not?

QFT

There's a world of difference between teaching and every other job out there.

Who is throwing a tantrum?

….and who is breaking the law and ignoring a court ruling (for the second time)?

….and its ROLE model,swtich….if your teacher wasnt busy herding 35 or so kids, you might have learned that difference.

lol spelling insults. I suppose I shouldn't rely on my smartphone's spelling correction as it sometimes gets it wrong. Maybe even with words like "swtich"…

Yes, breaking the law with regards to class size and composition has been ruled on, but the effect of the judgment has been suspended. The government has to fix this, but they don't have to do it today; welcome to our legal system. As someone else recently posted, the BCTF have their ruling and should be leaving it at that. Instead, they just keep regurgitating it over and over to try and gain support for their salary increase and other demands.

…..and who says they're special???? they want a fucking raise…and they deserve it.

Last one I got was 7 percent and I didnt even have to ask..

Whatever you got for a raise is irrelevant.

The going rate for salary increases for 51,000 public employees is much less (5.5 percent over 5 year) than what the BCTF have been demanding; the BCTF said THEY are special and deserve a better raise than their counterparts. Money is tight, and the other unions recognized this.

As for the "other demands" I mentioned above, the BCTF consistently fails to disclose their other demands for this contract, such as:

• additional professional development time,
• coverage of fertility drugs,
• $3K a year for massage therapy,
• increased benefits for dental,
• increased benefits for vision, hearing aids, orthotics, medical services/supplies,
• increases top-up for maternity/parental leave,
• better long term disability benefits coverage,
• increased EI topping up,
• additional class preparation time, with time to be made up for stat holidays and pro-d days,
• additional professional development time,
• increased funding for professional development time,
• increased wages for teachers on call, with addition of vacation pay.

There's more. All of this adds to their total compensation package, but all you hear about is base salary and the comparison of that to other provinces without inclusion of benefits.

For their last contract, teachers received a 16% wage increase and $3500 signing bonus. That contract happened to span a large recession, which they didn't have to worry about being affected by.

In the end, you don't have an issue with your boss and then hold the customer hostage to get what you want from your boss.

I wonder how long it will be for the Scandanavian countries to join our spiral downwards until the next great revolution.

The countries that have borrowed the most

Structural Deficits of various countries

Government debt as a % of GDP

The "freespending", social democracies of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland all have balanced fiscal books. Look at the data. Countries that invest in their own people are better off materially, financially and economically than those that invest in trickle-down economics.

• additional professional development time,
• coverage of fertility drugs,
• $3K a year for massage therapy,
• increased benefits for dental,
• increased benefits for vision, hearing aids, orthotics, medical services/supplies,
• increases top-up for maternity/parental leave,
• better long term disability benefits coverage,
• increased EI topping up,
• additional class preparation time, with time to be made up for stat holidays and pro-d days,
• additional professional development time,
• increased funding for professional development time,
• increased wages for teachers on call, with addition of vacation pay.

This all seems reasonable to me. Teaching is fucking hard.

The "freespending", social democracies of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland all have balanced fiscal books. Look at the data. Countries that invest in their own people are better off materially, financially and economically than those that invest in trickle-down economics.

can you hear that? that's the sound of the heads of capitalists exploding everywhere.

can you hear that? that's the sound of the heads of capitalists exploding everywhere.

Only because they don't understand capitalism.

can you hear that? that's the sound of the heads of capitalists exploding everywhere.

Capitalism itself isn't a bad thing …

_"Capitalism is not an end in itself, but a means to promote investment, innovation, growth and prosperity. … We simply cannot take the capitalist system, which produces such plenty and so many solutions, for granted. Prosperity requires not just investment in economic capital, but investment in social capital." _ - Mark Carney (ex-Governor of the Bank of Canada, current Governor of the Bank of England).

Like any system, no matter how well thought-out, designed and constructed, it becomes irredeemable when it is motivated by greed and fed by corruption.

pardon my ignorance . i don't have kids….is this strike affecting the students at all?

pardon my ignorance . i don't have kids….is this strike affecting the students at all?

Unless your kid was graduating from Grade 12 and needing to get documents to their Uni of choice.

Nope.

So in this regard the BCTF management went with a good PR choice and increase any parental support they will have.

Unless your kid was graduating from Grade 12 and needing to get documents to their Uni of choice.

Nope.

So in this regard the BCTF management went with a good PR choice and increase any parental support they will have.

this is completely incorrect. it was ruled an essential service and grade 12's will get report cards. no problems with university.

it most definitely does affect those who consider school to be a daycare and need to plan for alternate arrangements during school hours. definitely affects parents, which in turn affects kids.

there are many kids who actually NEED the classroom time to complete the curriculum, so yes it affects them.

thankfully, many schools, teachers, parents and students are working very hard to help make sure the impact is minimized. :)

this is completely incorrect. it was ruled an essential service and grade 12's will get report cards. no problems with university.

Maybe this time. However the last strike the BCTF did effect students getting enrolled in Uni after graduating grade 12. I knew 2 of them who had that stress.

And I on't even touch the rest of your commentary. Had enough BS because of being the stay at home from Teachers.

this is completely incorrect. it was ruled an essential service and grade 12's will get report cards. no problems with university.

Provincial exams are also being written as scheduled ….

As are many jobs or professions. What is forgotten, is that teachers became teachers by choice, not because they were told by a central planning authority that that was to be their job.

Choice.

Should we maximize profits selling high margin items to children in school cafeterias?

Should we maximize profits selling high margin items to children in school cafeterias?

Have you been in a high school cafeteria?