I call it “the Iker:” the flowing locks that I’ve not shorn for months and have pledged not to cut until we teachers get a settlement with the government. It’s a bit tongue-in-cheek; a way of trying to find something light in what has become a difficult and very upsetting situation.
For teachers, the on-going strike is very distressing. We find ourselves walking the picket lines and facing a fair bit of wrath and vitriol from some members of the public, most Liberal MLAs, and much of the media, not for personal gain, but for what we believe to be a principled fight.
It needs to be said again and again that this strike action is not, and has never been about wages. The difference on the wage offer between the employer and the BCTF is fairly insignificant and easily bridged.
No, what makes this strike different is the whole class size and composition issue. Teachers voted to walk off the job for this, and we’ll stay off the job for this.
Once the Supreme Court of B.C. ruled twice in favour of the teachers’ argument that class size and composition language stripped by then Education Minister Christy Clark in 2002 must be negotiated, the die was cast. You’re never going to get a group of 40,000 educated people who spend their days telling young people to stand up for what’s right to cave on a point of principle.
Once the government chose not to negotiate, but rather to go to court to appeal the ruling once again, it became clear that unless there was incredible public pressure on the government to come to an agreement on this issue, the strike would last a long time. And that’s where we are now.
Those who suggest that the two sides need to grow up clearly don’t understand the issues. There is a lot stake. Simply put, for teachers, it’s about teaching and learning conditions; for the union it’s about members’ jobs; and for government, it’s about money.
What is clear in this case is that there is only one party who has any real power to end the conflict, and that’s the government. Premier Clark, Minister Fassbender and the rest are holding all the cards, and they need to decide whether funding public education properly and settling their 12 year battle with the teachers is something they want to do.
And they better get at it because soon the barbers are going to be feeling the cuts too.
-Paul Demers is a teacher at Howe Sound Secondary School
