The Teacher's Strike

So a majority of British Columbia students will have an extended weekend as from Monday to Wednesday the teachers are going to be walking out. The strike which the student have been waiting for all year. So why are the teachers walking out? Who is it effecting? And what are the Liberals planning to do about it?

The teachers will tell you they are striking because its "for the children" and "the quality of the classes", with such a low budget and HUGE class sizes how are they supposed to teach your children? This of course is but a piece of the puzzle, and sadly it is the smallest and most pushed down the throats of the parents so that the teachers have the backing of said parents. While yes class sizes have increased my parents can say they remember their class sizes being about 15-20 kids and before going into high school I can remember mine averaging out to about 25 kids per class. Now in under 10 years we see anywhere from 27 kids per class (in smaller communities) to 32 students per class in the more populated communities.

So if its no for the reasons they will tell you what is it about? Firstly they want a 15% pay raise with more benefits and the government has denied them, but the reason for the pay increase is simple. About mid last year the government proposed that the teacher both continue to work a few more years, and contribute more from their pay checks to their pension. Now this might seem like a small sacrifice to better an already amazing pension that the teachers get but the argument is that they already work about 10 hours a day. They spend an hour in the morning/evening creating a lesson plan, anywhere from one to three hours marking and grading papers the average six hour days they spend Monday to Friday within the school walls and then don’t forget the extra time they take to make sure you child is caught up with the curricular by giving up lunch hours or 30 minutes to an hour after school. So, yes they have a valid argument, they already have to do this everyday till they turn 65. The Liberals would like to make it 68, and instead of them pouring 6.4% of every pay check into their pension they want them to put 9.6% of every pay check into their pension. So why is this such a bad idea. Lets do the math, say a teacher where to make $75,000 per year, at the current percentage that means that $4800 dollars per year go towards their pension. Now lets raise that to the projected percentage that goes up to $7200 per year. The difference is about $2400 dollars, which currently may be going towards juniors college fund, saving up for a new car or maybe that’s the money needed to put towards a care home for mom or dad.

So know that we know what this is really about, but why are the Liberals pushing for this? Because they are saying that within the next four years the teachers pension will be almost double and they don’t want it to be such a burden on the tax payers. This is a load of shit, the Liberals personal brand of shit. Of course if they push for the percentage raise the teacher’s pension is going to double! Look at the math we just did above! If you add that with the funding they are suppose to get from government and it surely would double. So not only is the strike fueled by a proposition and possible legislation by the Liberals but they have a fine way of dealing it with it as well. They want to pass a bill that in simple terms mean that the teachers are not allowed to strike, and if they do they will have $450 dollars taken from their pay for each day they strike. This is their great plan, way to go Christy Clark! Thankfully the Liberals had to get this passed by someone with half a brain, they are going to “carefully consider it” but it will most likely be struck down. Why? Well besides the fact that it goes against both the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (section 2(c) the right to peaceful assembly) and a section in the Union Labor Laws that states they have the right to strike (against any changes they disagree with) it is just a rather childish Liberal scheme to avoid dealing with the problems they created.

So who is it effecting? Besides the parties within the negotiation its pretty much the students whom are quite happy about the relaxing few days off and the parents whom are currently scrambling to find child care for the next few days. Enjoy the little vacation kids!
As for you, the readers, see you next a week on The Weekly Pause.

What Is?: The Weekly Pause

The Weekly Pause is where I'll be expressing options and hopefully pulling some scattered information together about whats going on in the news. Though normally I'd like to focus on local news, happenings here in the Lower Mainland if all I can find is gang violence I will head to something less local.

The reason I would prefer to keep things local is because, i'll have opportunity to give you guys a reflection about how the the event occurring is effecting the surroundings. I would not be able to express how a happening in Hong Kong is effecting my surroundings here in Surrey very well. Also I figure the best news is the one where you see cause, effect, and solution. Maybe if I can get this going ill be able to get some interviews going based on local news!...I should possibly get a camera for that...

Well anyways I hope you enjoy reading.

What I'm Working on: The Teachers' Strike in BC