PREAMBLE: 1.) I will be voting yes tomorrow, ONLY because I literally cant afford the risk of a no result. 2.) My criticism of this deal is not meant as a criticism of the BCTF Executive and/or their bargaining team. I feel that they got the best result they could have given the nature of the power relationship with this government. 3.) I never expected a good deal. It just hurts to see the reality of it. THE DEAL: This deal does virtually NOTHING to improve student learning conditions. The additional funding represents a very slight increase to the current, ironically-named Learning Improvement Fund, which, in its present form, is a complete joke. I understand well see a bit more of that used toward hiring teachers (rather then simply chucking an EA into the room to wallpaper over the actual problems), but thats about it. Our kids classes will continue to be overcrowded, and kids will continue to fall between ever-increasing cracks. The deal gives teachers a raise below cost-of-living increases between now and the end of the deal, and thats not even factoring in the past several years of zero wage increases, which actually makes it laughable. Including my [foregone] earnings at summer school, I have lost approximately $12 000 in this strike. I dont even want to do the math to see how long it will take me to recover that. THE GOOD NEWS: Support from parents and non-stakeholders has been unbelievable. Ive seen so many people educating themselves about the issues, standing with teachers on the picket line, posting on social media, attending protests and rallies, and its honestly a bit overwhelming. I hope you all stay engaged. THE BAD NEWS: Collective bargaining is dead in BC. The BC Federation of Labour failed to take meaningful action on our behalf. Unions are at the mercy of the government and its artificially constructed affordability zone. The government lies and says theyre broke, and now its a race to the bottom on wages for all of us while corporate tax rates stay low. Profits > People in BC. THE FUTURE: I can only speak for myself, but I will be carefully examining the services I provide for free outside of teaching, assessing, and reporting. I will continue to run the clubs I do as that directly impacts kids, but so many other things I do have come to be expected, and not only taken for granted, but expected. Yet, I have been publicly disrespected by this government and I will not forget this. Not next week, not next year, and certainly not in 2017. Our only hope lies in the courts. Quite the deal.
Posted on: Wed, 17 Sep 2014 19:22:14 +0000
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