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MERRITT HERALD FREE
TUESDAY, MAY 27, 2014 • MERRITT NEWSPAPERS
Lockout hits local schools Thursday By Michael Potestio THE HERALD
reporter@merrittherald.com
PERFECTING THEIR ART Valley Visual Artists Kim Vizi-Carmen (foreground), Fran McMurchy and Jean Kiegerl practice a glaze and veil exercise at an acrylics workshop taught by Kamloops painter David Langevin on the weekend. The two-day workshop was put on by the VVA at the Civic Centre and attracted 17 painters, eight of whom came from out of town — and one from as far as Gabriola. “We want people to come down to Merritt for the arts and culture,” VVA workshop co-ordinator Shirley Reynolds said. Emily Wessel/Herald
The provincial government has chosen to fight fire with fire. In response to the escalation of job action from the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF), the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) initiated a lockout of B.C. teachers on Monday. The move comes as the BCTF decided to implement phase two of its job action on Monday, which began rotating one-day strikes in groups of the province’s 60 school districts. The teachers of School District 58 will walk the picket line this Thursday. School District 58 chairman Gordon Comeau said parents should not send their children to school on Thursday. He said during the strike, there will be administrators stationed at the schools. BCPSEA public administrator Michael Marchbank stated in a letter to the BCTF last week that the lockout was a response to the union’s first two strike phases and its effort to seek pay increases it says are higher than in other public sector settlements. Between now and June 25, the lockout involves a reduction of job responsibilities as well as pay cuts. So far, the district track meet, MSS Holocaust field trip, Grade 5 tree planting and school district powwow have already been cancelled as a result of the labour dispute, Comeau told the Herald. Comeau said these events have been cancelled because they have a curricular aspect to
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them. Paid work being conducted during recess, lunch or 45 minutes before or after the school day is prohibited under the lockout, Comeau said. Teacher salaries were cut by five per cent effective May 26 and reduced further to 10 per cent in response to the strikes. Comeau said it is his understanding that a portion of the salaries taken back is returned to the province, but school districts may be allowed to keep a small portion. Suspending some teachers’ duties and reducing their work hours is the basis for the pay cut, Marchbank said in the letter. That letter also stated this work reduction is a reflection of the work not being done in accordance with phase one of the union’s job action. The phase one job action that the letter refers to is teachers refusing to participate in meetings with administrators, communicate with them via written or electronic communications and provide usual supervision other than what’s required under the essential services order. Also under phase one, teachers were not to be at work more than one hour before the start of school or one hour after the end of the instructional day. Comeau told the Herald that the BCPSEA has reduced that by 15 minutes at the start and end of the work day, and teachers are now not to arrive at school more than 45 minutes before the start of classes or more than 45 minutes after the end of classes.
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