New Westminster teachers will continue to vote today on whether to escalate job action, even after Education Minister George Abbott introduced legislation that would defer a teachers' right to legally strike.
"There hasn't been a suspension of the vote," said New Westminster Teachers' Union president Grant Osborne.
Osborne had just started reviewing Abbott's legislation, Bill 22, on Tuesday afternoon when The Record contacted him for a comment.
"There's lots to consider here," Osborne said about Abbott's legislation. "It's a 14-page document, and I'm only halfway through it."
Bill 22 does not impose a new contract on teachers but instead calls for a mediator to help resolve issues in bargaining until the summer.
"A cooling off period sounds helpful," Osborne said, though he wasn't pleased with the strike penalties in the bill - up to $475 per day for individual teachers, $2,500 a day for union officers and at least $1.3 million per day for the teachers' federation.
"We are hopeful that a mediator can help the parties achieve a negotiated agreement, in keeping with the more than 100 agreements already achieved under the government's bargaining mandate," Abbott said in a press release. "We hope the teachers' union will take a constructive approach and respect the cooling off period. However, if they choose a different path, the legislation includes stiff financial consequences for illegal strike action."
The Labour Relations Board ruled on Tuesday that teachers can strike for a maximum of three days with two days' advance notice. If Abbott's legislation passes, teachers - deemed an essential service - won't be legally allowed to strike.
Meanwhile, New Westminster teachers rallied at local schools, including Glenbrook Middle School, on Monday afternoon as a part of the "Day of Action" protest.
Teachers and the government have been locked in contentious contract negotiations for a year.
Teachers want a 15 per cent wage increase over three years, but the government has said that won't happen because there is a "net-zero" mandate for public-sector wage increases.
