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DE K A M L O O P S
Marty Hastings says the flop must be stopped Page A26
THURSDAY
Thursday, June 19, 2014 X Volume 27 No. 71
Kamloops, B.C., Canada X 30 cents at Newsstands
THIS WEEK
All the reaction from the approval of Northern Gateway Page A4 Thompson River Publications Limited Partnership
BCPSEA cites cost of BCTF’s contract bid By Tom Fletcher BLACK PRESS
tfletcher@blackpress.ca
The bargaining agency for B.C.’s 60 school districts has put a price tag on what its chief negotiator called “a truckload of benefit provisions” sought by the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF). The cost estimate was released by the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) after negotiations broke down and the BCTF proceeded with a full-scale strike that could continue to the end of the school year. Education Minister Peter Fassbender said negotiations were expected to resume. The BCPSEA calculates with increased class-preparation time and other benefits, the latest offer from the BCTF adds up to a 12.5 per cent increase in total compensation over the five-year term proposed by the union. The BCPSEA has proposed a seven per cent pay increase over six years, plus a $1,200 per teacher signing bonus for an agreement ratified by the end of June. The BCTF countered last week with a proposed $5,000 per teacher signing bonus to make up for a year the union has worked under an expired contract. X See SIDES A15
South Kamloops secondary teacher Agnes Baker (left) teacher/librarian Trisha Rimmer and learning-assistance resource teacher Dennis Hayes on the picket line on Tuesday, June 17. Dave Eagles/KTW
Teachers feel pinch as strike begins By Adam Williams STAFF REPORTER
adam@kamloopsthisweek.com
As the provincial government prepares to tighten its grip, B.C. teachers are preparing to tighten their belts. With full-scale strike action beginning across the province on Tuesday, June 17, and the Ministry of Education already imposing wage rollbacks as part of lockout provisions, tough times are looming for educators in the Tournament Capital. “Even when we were in rotating strikes, it had a tremendous effect on us because both my wife and I are teachers,” Jamie Blower told KTW.
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Blower is a Grade 7 teacher at Westmount elementary, while his wife, Kim Hindle, teaches Grade 4 at Beattie School of the Arts. The couple has two young children, ages seven and five, and is looking ahead to what may be a lean summer. “We’re like most people, right?” Blower said. “We have a truck payment and a mortgage payment and groceries to buy and things like that.” Blower said he and his wife are still hoping to be able to return to work before the end of the school year, but he’s making plans just in case. There’s the possibility he will need to pick up part-time work in the summer months to make ends meet.
He’s not alone. NorKam secondary work-experience teacher Amanda Jensen is considering increasing the number of hours she makes available to her second job. As a part-time teacher, making money in her hours away from NorKam was already necessary, but has become crucial. More than financially, though, Jensen said the job action has affected her emotionally. “The very fact that my students don’t have their teacher right now because of what’s happening at the bargaining table with BCPSEA [B.C. Public School Employers’ Association] is disgusting to me,” she said. X See I BELIEVE A14
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