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Facts about the teachers’ contract dispute
Facts about the contract feud between the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA), backed by the Liberal government:
Salary proposal: The BCTF wants a 15-per-cent wage hike over three years; the BCPSEA and government say teachers, like other provincial government employees, are bound by the net-zero mandate, which means no increased costs.
Proposal’s cost: The BCTF estimates a 15-per-cent salary increase would cost the provincial treasury an extra $560 million over three years; BCPSEA says the bill, compounded over three years, would be closer to $2 billion.
Recent wage increases: In 2002, a deal imposed by the Liberals gave BCTF members a 7.5-per-cent wage hike over three years. (That contract was extended for one year.) In 2006, the union signed a deal with raises ranging from 14 to 21.5 per cent over five years and a signing bonus. That contract expired June 30.
Current pay: The average minimum salary for a B.C. teacher is $48,000; the average maximum salary is $74,000.
Salary comparisons: B.C. pay is either fourth or ninth in the country, depending on whom you ask and whether the rankings include the territories or just the provinces. Last year, a Saskatchewan mediator found that B.C. pay was the lowest in Western Canada.
Read The Vancouver Sun full article here.
By Janet Steffenhagen MARCH 6, 2012
jsteffenhagen@vancouversun.com
Most public schools closed Monday due to teacher strike
Teachers were planning to distribute leaflets outside B.C. public schools Monday morning at the start of what is likely to be a three-day strike.
Because picketing is not legally permitted in this job action, schools were expected to remain open, with principals, vice-principals and support staff on the job. But almost all districts have cancelled bus services and are urging parents to make other arrangements for their children rather than sending them to school.
“It is not possible for school administrators … to provide appropriate supervision for more than 70,000 students,” Surrey, the province’s largest school district, says in a statement on its website. “Even if just a fraction of the total number of students were to attend, their safety and well-being may be seriously compromised.”
StrongStart Centres and child care programs on school property around the province are not expected to be affected.
The 41,000-member B.C. Teachers’ Federation is striking to show frustration over a lack of progress during year-long bargaining and its opposition to Bill 22, which the government introduced last week to force an end to the dispute and the limited teacher job action that began in September.
“We are simply fed up,” union president Susan Lambert said over the weekend, while apologizing to parents for the inconvenience.
By JANET STEFFENHAGEN, Vancouver Sun March 4, 2012
jsteffenhagen@vancouversun.com
Read more education news in The Vancouver Sun’s Report Card
Libraries of the Future!
Ebooks are driving momentous changes. In Vancouver, librarians are inviting the public to help reinvent their mission.
There are certain things, good and bad, that ebooks can’t offer. Old bookmarks, penciled annotations and chocolate smudges between the pages… the tactile human touches that make die-hard proponents of print swear they’ll never make the switch.
But those traditionalists are becoming the minority of library borrowers, as the relative convenience of ebooks — downloadable from the comfort of one’s home — appeals to more and more library users. According to recently-released stats from the Vancouver Public Library, the lending and borrowing of electronic content, and in particular ebooks, is exploding.
At VPL, ebook downloads have increased almost tenfold year-on-year, from 3,718 in 2010 to 35,671 in 2011. On top of that, the library estimates that if the current growth rate of ebook borrowing continues, it will take less than five years for ebooks to dominate circulation.
Of course, the explosion of ebooks isn’t news to the publishing industry, which is still adjusting to the digital shift. Scott McIntyre, the publisher and chairman of Vancouver-based D&M Publishing, recently shared his take with The Tyee that sooner rather than later, at least in the publishing world, ebooks “will conquer all.” And there’s significant evidence to support McIntyre’s prophecy. Mid 2010, Amazon.com reported that sales for its Kindle reader outstripped hardcover sales, and by January 2011, Kindle books surpassed paperback sales as well.
Yet while the story of publishers reeling over the digital surge has been told, how are libraries affected by the shift? As VPL’s director of planning and development Daphne Wood points out, there are a number of issues the library faces with the takeover. Issues like how ebooks are licensed to libraries, concerns about access to e-readers (and a potential new “digital divide”), and how to build modern collections that appease everyone, are top of mind for many librarians.
By Robyn Smith, 05March2012, TheTyee.ca
B.C. teachers will strike Monday, BCTF says
VANCOUVER – B.C.’s teachers will strike Monday, B.C. Teachers’ Federation president Susan Lambert says.
Lambert said Thursday morning the province’s 41,000 teachers “will withdraw their services” for three days, beginning Monday.
“We have a legal right strike for three days,” Lambert told reporters gathered at BCTF offices in Vancouver. “That’s our intention.”
If the provincial government’s legislation is enacted before Wednesday, Lambert said the union will consult its members about the next step.
Lambert said she recognizes the problems the walkout will cause parents.
“We understand that this will cause you concern,” she said, stressing the walkout is necessary to stand up to government bullying.
Read The Vancouver Sun complete article here.
By Evan Duggan with Tara Carman, Vancouver Sun March 1, 2012 10:44 AM
With a file from Andrea Woo