Dear Constituents of Saanich South,
As you know, public school
teachers across the province are out on strike. They are demanding improved
wages, smaller class sizes and better support for students with special needs.
As a parent of a
grade 10 student in the public system I know how urgently improvements are
needed in our schools …and I know how harmful this strike is to students,
especially those in grades 11 and 12.
It is time for the
government to come to the table and negotiate better terms for teachers.
Instead, we see the
government turning away from the breakdown in our public school system. In fact,
we know from testimony made under oath in Court by the BC
Liberal government’s own chief negotiator that the government’s explicit goal was to provoke the teachers into striking.
They pushed the
teachers into this strike in order to create a crisis that they can use to justify forcing teachers back
to work through punitive legislation.
No less an authority
than the Supreme Court of BC has ruled – not once, but twice -- that the BC
Liberals broke the law when negotiating with teachers. In the last ruling, made in January of this year, the Court even fined the BC government two
million dollars for acting in bad faith.
This dispute has severely
disrupted the school year and schools are now shut down with no end in sight.
That is why BC’s Opposition
Leader John Horgan today called on the government to bring in an
independent negotiator to help settle this dispute.
If the BC Liberals
think teachers will put their tail between their legs and slink back to the
classroom they are delusional.
Teachers have tried bargaining
patiently for years. They have tried modest job action. They have tried
rotating strikes. All of it has been answered by the BC Liberals
with hostility and political manoeuvring.
To the BC Liberal
Government, inflicting pain on students and parents and teachers in the public
school system is better than paying the cost of addressing sub-standard class
size and composition.
Thank you BC teachers
for fighting for what is right!
With the public’s
help, public educators will teach the BC Liberals a lesson:
British Columbians expect
their government to fund a healthy public education system.
Email Premier Christy
Clark a message and help her learn this lesson.
And join me in
speaking out in support of public education. It is the foundation of democracy.
Sincerely,
