B.C. teachers could be considering an illegal strike in the face of government's Bill 22, which prohibits them from walking off the job and imposes hefty fines if they do.
Susan Lambert, the newly re-elected president of the B.C. Teachers' Federation, made the announcement today, following the union's annual general meeting, which wrapped up Tuesday.
"We're putting government on notice," Lambert said.
The first part of the BCTF's plan involves a vote on a number of measures, including withdrawing voluntary extra-curricular activities and the possibility of a future vote on a full-scale strike. The plan will be put to a provincewide teachers' vote of on April 17 and 18.
"In April, all teachers will vote on the plan recommended by the AGM delegates. To be clear, the plan also includes a possibility of a future provincewide vote of members on whether it's necessary to respond to government actions with a full-scale protest against Bill 22," Lambert said. "At every step of the way, government has chosen bullying tactics instead of respectfully working with teachers towards a solution."
The BCTF will be also be mounting a legal challenge to Bill 22, and Lambert suggested the legislation has all the hallmarks of previous government bills that have violated international law.
Teachers in roughly a dozen school districts have already voted to stop extra-curricular voluntary activities.
In the meantime, teachers will continue teaching and will prepare year-end report cards, and students who need marks required for graduation, scholarships and post-secondary application will be able to get them.
The labour dispute has been going on since spring and teachers already went on strike for three days this month.
