AssociationVille
You may have heard about the 'letter' the association that used to be made up largely of school trustees (i.e. the BCPSEA) just sent to the public school teachers union (i.e. the BCTF).
Because the herd's soundbites so rarely do, we thought we would give you the actual money shot in its entirety:
"...Effective May 26, 2014, and continuing until further notice, your members will be locked out as described in this letter. As a consequence of this action, salaries will be reduced by 5.0% for all employees in the BCTF bargaining unit who are scheduled to work, beginning May 26. If the union moves to its stage 2 activities, the reduction will be 10% instead of 5%, effective the first day that the walkout affects any school..."
Gosh.
A couple of months back we wondered why the Snooklandians would do the following:
1) Replace elected school trustees on the BC Public School Employers' Association (BCPSEA) board with its own administrator?
2) Appoint its own negotiator in the middle of the current round of bargaining?
3) Replace the senior staff at BCPSEA?
Guess we know 'why' now.
Indeed.
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What is clear, going all the way back to at least 2005, is that the BC Liberal government and the Wizards running them, want this crap...Why?...In my opinion it's because they have weighed the odds and have come to the conclusion that it is a winning issue for them...More specifically, they think that turning public sector unions into evil gollums will stand them in good stead, both now with the screamers (i.e. read the 'comments' at the end of any 'serious' newsstory on the subject) and later when they drop said gollum on the Dippers' doorstep in 2017...And if the Snooklandian Wizards have to screw over a bunch of kids and parents who can't afford to send their kids to publicly-subsidized private schools in the process?....Well...So be it.
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3 comments:
Same unionized dybuk is supposed to be blamed for the ill-fated cable-ferry to Denman Island (which also connects Hornby Island)---ill-fated, even as yet on paper, because of mounting engineering problems contributing to certain cost overruns that will more than cancel out the savings this misguided project's supposed to make---not to mention the social costs in terms of emergency services, costs to commuting workers and students, island businesses, real estate values and cultural activities.
This ferry run has been "tenderized" by being prefixed with the words "money-losing" for years, a dastardly long-game much like the teachers' dilemma---all for the ideological neo-right goal of smashing public sector unions. And, like with the teachers, the nauseating, repetitious pseudo- Punch and Judy show has cruel ramifications only a Dickensian blackguard---and the BC Liberals---could enjoy inflicting. Like with the teachers, there are too many provocations of ferry workers to list, maybe not as well known because fewer people across the province are concerned with ferries than schools, but, as disturbing is the fact that this government's gollum conjuring is using children as pawns.
I think the right's enmity, paleo- and neo- (Socred and BC Liberal), with public ferry unions pre-dates today's relentless antagonism of unionized teachers---which strikes me as odd: the ferry workers have been the least "militant" of all public sector unions.
I agree, Ross: these bastards are counting on wizardry in the political/ electoral forum; it's the judicial forum where their attempted wizardry don't wash. They already been warned with a $2 million over-the-bow shot and some unusually blunt wording in their most recent legal drubbing. They seem to think the ballot box trumps the courts. But then that $2 million fine didn't really hurt the BC Liberal party much, did it?
SH
Mikey Marchbank, head of BCPSEA is a prime example of the "Peter Principle". Throughout his underwhelming, and various incarnations within government he has been a useful, if somewhat slow tool. He's a keeper.
The ever reliable "screamers" will never see how Bend 'em over fast is turning their own kids into educational have-nots, nor their own complicity in this down-sizing of the BC public school system.
SH
Chris silent assassin Walker with CBC Daybreak South takes no prisoners:
http://www.cbc.ca/daybreaksouth/2014/05/22/bcs-education-minister-on-the-teachers-dispute/
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