Campquake Senate

Any that follow news in Canada and particularily in BC will know that the BCTF and its members have been on strike for 1 week and are vowing to remain on the picket lines until the government agrees to 'negotiate' a contract with us. I say negotiate because we have had our last 2 contracts, since I've been a teacher, imposed on us. Whatever happened to collective bargaining?

The government is refusing to negotiate with us because they continually say that we already have a contract (imposed by them). Now that we have the support of the Federation of Labour and the majority of labour unions in BC, we will hopefully be able to gain some ground on these nazi like politicians.

Heh

I was in.. grade 10 I think, when the Ontario Teachers' Union went on strike, it lasted 2 weeks.

When we got back to class the teachers said "okay time to catch up on the work we missed" and we laughed at them. There wasnt a single teacher at that school that was given any ounce of respect from the students the rest of the year.

To be honest I haven't been following BC news at all heh. I havent any idea the reasons for the labour dispute, so you can ignore me if you like. All I can say is you folks better make darn sure you work extra hard to keep the students on your side. Back then in Ontario the teachers thought they could bully their way to anything and it came back and bit them on the rear end good and hard. Heck I'm still angry at them for screwing with my education.

RedBaron wrote: When we got back to class the teachers said "okay time to catch up on the work we missed" and we laughed at them.

Honestly, what would you have expected them to say? "Don't worry about the work that we missed these last 2 weeks. If you come to any questions on the final that we didn't cover during our strike just ignore it."

RedBaron wrote: To be honest I haven't been following BC news at all heh. I havent any idea the reasons for the labour dispute, so you can ignore me if you like. All I can say is you folks better make darn sure you work extra hard to keep the students on your side. Back then in Ontario the teachers thought they could bully their way to anything and it came back and bit them on the rear end good and hard. Heck I'm still angry at them for screwing with my education.

The biggest thing is that in 2000 we were unable to successfully negotiate a contract, so the government imposed one for us. And now, once again a negotiated contract was not reached so they turn around and extend the one they previously imposed on us 4 years ago.

Not certain about what demands the teachers in Ontario were asking for when they had their job action, but I do know that if I worked as a teacher in Ontario, I would be making approximately $10,000/yr. more than I make here in BC.


The general feeling around BC is that the majority of students support the teachers. I think primarily because they are witnessing first hand how the education system has been deteriorating more and more since this government came into power. It truly is a pity that the students suffer from this action, but sometimes you need to take 1 step backwards in order to take 2 or 3 steps forward.

heh BC has been deteriorating all around over the last 10 years or so if you ask me

Honestly, what would you have expected them to say? "Don't worry about the work that we missed these last 2 weeks. If you come to any questions on the final that we didn't cover during our strike just ignore it."

I expected classes for 2 weeks. The teachers went on strike for money, and after the 2 weeks they went back to work, gaining more or less nothing out of it.

See at that time I had teachers who decided to leave class half way through for a 30-minute "yogurt break" (their term not mine) -- every day, without fail. And theyre going on strike for more money? I'm sure some teachers are worth some extra money, but theres a load of crappy ones who somehow keep their jobs

I guess I just feel that there has got to be a better way to negotiate extra pay without shutting down the schools. Its the same with health services, those cant just be shut down.

I agree to an extent. Our bargaining structure has failed miserably here in BC. It really is too bad that kids are the ones who suffer the most, but they've been suffering in the classroom for so long that someone needed to make a stand. Did you know that in the lower mainland (Vancouver) there are some classes that have 40 students in them? Did you know that some students are expected to share textbooks? This is all because of a lack of funding by the government. Of course one of the items that we are trying to negotiate is money, but the major items are these deteriorating learning conditions that I mentioned above. Hell, if the govt had their way, they'd privatize the whole bloody province.

heh I love large class sizes, but I was always one that liked to hide. Dont like attention much.

I don't mean to be a pain or anything. I actually know quite a few teachers.

Hope the whole thing gets resolved quickly so you dont get too bored with online poker

LOL, gotta try and make some money somehow. Any others here into online poker?

I play a bit, just with the fake money.

to be honest its actually more fun to watch it on tv lol

RedBaron wrote:I play a bit, just with the fake money.

to be honest its actually more fun to watch it on tv lol

World Poker Tournament?
I watch that on TV sometimes... don't have a clue how to play the game or even understand all that goes on, when I am watching.. but it's still cool to see and *try* to understand. lol

Yeah that, or up here we also have the Canadian Poker Tour.

Or theres always Celebrity Poker which is good for a few laughs.