By Rob Fleming
New Democrat spokesperson for education
Parents across British Columbia have been faced with uncertainty all summer. They and their children have been caught in the middle of the B.C. Liberals’ conflict with teachers for months, and they are exhausted from it.
While there is a glimmer of hope that there could be a last minute push to get mediator Vince Ready to agree to help solve the dispute, parents and kids still don’t know if they’ll be back in school on Sept. 2.
Instead of buying school supplies, parents have been trying to line up child care. Instead of wondering who their child’s teacher would be, they have been wondering when their children will next have a teacher.
Parents want the best for their children and what’s best is for our kids to go back to school in September.
That’s why New Democrats suggested that both sides voluntarily suspend their job action – both the lockout of B.C. teachers by the government and the strike by teachers. But that can only happen if the B.C. Liberals drop all preconditions and get serious about immediately entering mediation.
Given that the B.C. Liberals have twice been reprimanded by the courts for bargaining in bad faith with teachers, they need to show a lot of good will to bring down those picket lines.
New Democrats recognize that teachers deserve a fair deal. We also know that teachers, just like parents, really want what’s best for B.C.’s kids – and what’s best for kids is to be back in the classroom this fall.
After all, the children who will be hurt the most by the lost time at school will be those who can least afford to fall behind. Those kids who are already struggling to read at their grade level, or stumbling over long division – they are the ones who will have the most difficulty making up for lost time.
Christy Clark and the B.C. Liberals have a record of saying what they think people want to hear, then turning around and doing whatever they want anyway. For example, the government has said they are willing to negotiate 24/7, but the reality is almost no discussions have happened all summer.
So it’s no wonder people have a hard time believing them when they say that now they’re ready to go to mediation.
For this plan to work the B.C. Liberal government needs to agree to mediation without any conditions, instead of keeping our kids out of classrooms. Refusing to come to the table until teachers give in to their demands isn’t the way forward to a negotiated settlement.
Vince Ready is a skilled negotiator. He should be given the ability to work with both parties to decide what should or shouldn’t be on the table.
Parents are tired of the B.C. Liberals’ political propaganda and endless spin. They want the B.C. Liberals to get to work at the bargaining table. They want a settlement. It’s time for the government to show it’s serious and immediately enter mediation without any preconditions.
