Clear as mud and no end coming soon
By Nelson Daily Staff
Strike dates.
Changes to strike dates for Kootenay Lake.
Lockout believed to have an affect final exam marking.
Employers saying the lockout won’t affect marking final exams for Grade 10 and 11 or grad ceremonies.
Looks like everything is clear as mud in the labour dispute between the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association.
Both sides in the dispute turned up the heat as the battle intensified Thursday as the BCTF said significant disruptions are on the horizon following government threats of a lockout.
During a news conference Thursday, BCTF president Jim Iker said exams, including those for Grade 10 and 11 students, wouldn’t be marked, extracurricular activities would be cancelled, which would include graduation events, and teachers wouldn’t be prepared for summer school if the government followed through with its threat.
“On June 24 all Grade 10 English students and Social Studies 11 students are writing their provincial exams,” said BCTF president Jim Iker.
“Christy Clark’s lockout starts the next day and that will prevent thousands of students’ exams from being marked.”
But during his own news conference, Peter Cameron, chief negotiator for the BCPSEA, said teachers are misreading the tealeaves, saying demands of class size and composition demands would cost $2 billion or about $1,100 per taxpayer.
Despite the rhetoric, the two sides were back to the bargaining table Thursday.
However, both sides are not optimistic, because at this point, they can’t even agree on the data they’re using to try to hammer out an agreement.
