Was listening to Sean Leslie interviewing Finance Minister Mike deJong, yesterday on CKNW News Talk 980, and a number of things struck me. When Sean asked about the wage demands of the BCTF, the Minister went on about modest increases for the other unions and that the BCTF demands are unreasonable. He didnt mention that all the other unions had modest increases, over the past 4 years, while the BC Teachers saw 0%. He goes on to talk about the government being fiscally responsible, and yet, time and again, we see wasteful spending by this government, from nearly half a million dollar credit card bills that include $3k at an Oyster Bar to Millions handed blindly handed over to the Portland Hotel Society, with no oversight. He uses the same talking points that every other government official uses, saying things like the BCTF demands are double of what the other Unions got (which has not accurate), disagrees that education in BC is underfunded (which has been proven, independently, that it is), and isolates the BCTF as the ONLY union that they (the government) has had a difficult time negotiating at the table. Here is what I see. The government has NEVER held the line and been as inflexible, in ANY negotiation with ANY union, as they are with the BCTF right now. There is actual negotiation and movement, by both parties. Part of the reason Vince Ready walked away is because the Government refuses to take things like e80 off the table. By the end of this past week, the government has saved close to $250 Million in teachers wages (based on 2 weeks in June and 1 week in September), which pretty much matches the amount of money that the teachers are demanding be added to the resources budget over the next 3 years. One more week and they exceed that amount. So, where is that money going? The fact is that there is a very set of reasons why the government is holding the line and not negotiating. Aside from the fact that there is no upcoming election to fear, kids being out of school does not affect the entire population of the province. Unlike Healthcare, not everyone needs access to a school. Unlike government office employees, not everyone has need of a school services. Unlike truckers, commerce in the province is not affected by the teachers walking out. This has all been planned out and the BCTF still hasnt figured it out. It should have been obvious back when the government closed the deal with the school support workers. They (the government) gets to brag about making the deal with the union.....and the workers continue to get paid, while the schools that they work in are closed.
Posted on: Mon, 08 Sep 2014 16:48:57 +0000
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