Around 21,000 Richmond students may soon be caught in the middle of a heated labour row, as a potential teacher strike looms.
Though details regarding the contingency plan for Richmond schools are being kept private, a playbook for handling the strike is being developed by district staff.
I think its really important that the conversations happen at the table without our comments on what will be or wont be, said Donna Sargent, Richmond school board chair.
We respect that process. This is collective bargaining and we need to make sure those talks keep happening.
Preparations being made are incorporating all possible situations, said Sargent, responding to a comment that the teachers strike action could progress beyond the initial phase one of work-to-rule.
And updates for parents are high on the list of priorities, with Richmond school officials ready to use newsletters, websites and parents email addresses to keep families up-to-date on the events that unfold.
Three meetings between the provincial bodies negotiating a new contract for B.C teachers the British Columbia Teachers Federation (BCTF) and the B.C. Pension Corporation (BCPC) have already taken place, but the local BCTF spokesperson said not much has changed.
This is not something teachers want to do, added Al Klassen, president of the Richmond Teachers Association.
But, after teachers voted in June to take action if a suitable agreement wasnt made before schools reopen next month, its becoming more likely that teachers will take some form of strike action when schools re-open in the summer.
About Richmond 3,000 teachers full-time, on-call, contract and summer school teachers are among those province-wide who had access to the strike vote that concluded with a 90 per cent approval.
The work-to-rule campaign means that teachers would refuse to submit report cards, record attendance and other administrative details.
Instead, they would focus on teaching and learning, said Klassen.
Student performance would continue to be tracked with parents welcome to contact teachers with any questions.
The best thing a parent can do is to be involved in childs education. Thats the most important in terms of a childs success, said Klassen. This just ups the ante.
The tussle is over a number of contract details, including class sizes, salaries and the benefits package.
Students learning conditions are pretty much a teachers working conditions, he said.
This potential strike comes only six years after the last teacher strike, but Klassen claims parents are supportive of the action now, as they were in 2005.
