Interesting developments today...
1.Vince Ready's recommendations: not exactly what teachers were looking for. They highlight the fact that the contract imposed by Bill 12 is up in June 2006, which means we'll be back at the bargaining table again in March. Here we go again...
2. Jinny Sims' conditional acceptance of Ready's recommendations. She wants written guarantees from this government, not just talk. Of course, we thought our contracts were written guarantees, too...
3. Gordon Campbell essentially flipping the bird at teachers: He took a nice little dig by saying that teacher's shouldn't consider this a victory, making a point of telling everyone that this "deal" isn't going to cost the government anything, it will just come out of the millions of dollars he's saved by not having to pay the teachers over the last two weeks. Well good for him. In Campbell's speech, he talks about his experience as a teacher himself. SCOFF, SPUTTER, *eyes rolling around in my head* Don't tell ME he has education's best interests in mind. Hogwash!
4. Jim Sinclair backs off professed support of teachers: Even before anyone had even SEEN the recommendations, Sinclair stepped down his support of teachers, calling off the BC Fed's involvement in the rally, and refusing to talk to Jinny Sims until a vote was held. I can't tell you how many teachers are FURIOUS over this.
5. Brenda Brown's fine on the BCTF: Considerably less than we thought it was going to be, actually.
6. Class Action lawsuits pending: Yes, taxpayers pay for a service that they didn't receive. But whose responsibility is it to provide that service? We would not be in this situation if the government had not "abused their legislative authority" (as stated by the government's own lawyers) and had actually sat down and negotiated with teachers.
7. Upcoming vote... will teachers really be back to work on Monday?
I'd like to write more on each of these things, but I've GOT to get away from all this for a while. It's making me crazy!
What a day.
posted by Hillary at 3:56 PM
8 Comments:
Hilary,
Gordon Campbell's mugshot along with all the others? Not very classy of you.
Robert
P.S. You spelled "recommendations" wrong.
While we're playing spelling police, you've been spelling my name wrong.
Thanks for you comments, Brad. You've got some very good points. I'm taking the weekend off (or at least mostly off) from strike stuff, mostly for my own sanity, but I'll reply to your comments and some others later.
As far as the vote goes, I think we'll probably be back on Monday, but I highly doubt it will be a landlside "yes" vote.
I'm awfully sick of this stike, too, and want to be back at work. I greatly appreciate all the work and sacrifice parents have made over the last two weeks. I know it hasn't been easy.
Yeah, I was wondering about that! :P
I think it was a good thing she did that. These weren't contract negotiations of the typical sense, and I think it was good to show the public that teachers really are willing to talk. Again I say we wouldn't be here if the governemnt had bargained in the first place.
What's done is done. We'll just see how the vote goes. With the BCTF reccommending teachers vote yes, I'm sure we'll all be back at work on Monday, but bargaining's not done. I'll be very interested how the rest of this plays out.
Don't lose hope. What teachers have done is amazing. Personally, I would recommend a no vote. However, I also realize how difficult this is for all teachers and for those of us standing on the 'outside' it is always easier to give advice.
All the say, way to go teachers!
Charles Menzies
So hillary '
When a student says to you,why should I not smoke pot simply because it is against a law(which many feel is bad) when it was OK for you to break the law how will you answer. And please don't feed me that crap that it was a civil protest. The courts said 3 different times you were breaking the law. So thats a GREAT example to set for the kids. Just ignore the rule of law-the mainstay of a democracy.
What role models!!!
Horny Toad
People who comment anonymously annoy me to no end...If you feel so strongly about the issue then leave your comment as well as your name and e-mail address, perhaps even your blog address...allow the opportunity for others to see what else you have to see when you aren't being rude in comments here.
As for the guy who pointed out the spelling error...wow, you're cool...I wanna be just like you when I grow up.
Hillary...some things are worth fighting for...stay focused and stick to your beleifs.
Oh, sorry about that "CLINT"-big time oil man for the United States. Funny, but my name is Clint too.
There, is that better.
Horny Toad(Clint)
Post a Comment
<< Home