With little time left to get a deal done and put the current teachers’ job action to rest before the end of June, we can expect more of everything now that 72 hours strike notice has been served by the BC Teachers Federation.
B.C. teachers are expected to go on a full-scale strike as of Tuesday morning.
As of Wednesday, a fresh arsenal of rhetoric is ready to be unleashed on the public as both sides will make the most of every opportunity to discredit the position and tactics of the other.
Watching from the middle of the labour battleground are the thousands of students who would far rather be thinking about their futures and how big a role education plays.
Parents and guardians are naturally directly involved and rightfully concerned...but so should everyone, to some degree, be.
The health and effectiveness of our education system, and the climate in which it’s run have a huge impact on our economic and social future.
As we struggle with continual labour management strife, not just between teachers and their employers, our economic competitors in other countries and provinces move ahead with the pedal to the metal.
Our educational system may not be the best in the world but it’s crucial that it keeps operating while improvements are considered and implemented.
There may be worse times of year for a teachers strike, but there is never a good time for one.
The best time for a negotiated settlement to the current impasse...without question, is soon.