Vancouver teachers and students are back in school after a two-week long spring break. But it's not business as usual, according to the teachers' union.
The B.C. Teachers' Federation is finetuning its plan to protest the passage of Bill 22, which imposes a six-month cooling-off period during which time job action is prohibited while a mediator negotiates under the government's "net-zero" mandate.
Teachers vote on the BCTF's action plan April 17 and 18. The plan includes asking teachers if they want to withdraw from voluntary extracurricular activities and the possibility of a second vote on a fullscale illegal walkout.
"There's no way that teachers are returning to normal. There is no cooling-off period," BCTF president Susan Lambert said Tuesday morning. "This bill is incendiary, so you can't expect a cooling-off period with a bill that is taking straight aim at our collective bargaining rights, our ability to teach to individual student's needs and public education itself."
The union vote was delayed until April 17 and 18 because B.C. school districts schedule spring breaks at different times and some are on break until mid-April.
If teachers vote in favour of the plan, Lambert said the executive committee will decide when to implement it. Although there would only be a couple of months before the end of the school year, she maintains there will be enough time to hold a second vote on an illegal strike if necessary.
"We had five province-wide votes during the two-week period when we were out on what was eventually called an illegal strike in 2005, so we can mount a province wide member vote quite quickly," she said.
Lambert wouldn't speculate on when a second vote might be held.
"It would depend on the circumstances. We're finding ourselves in quite a volatile situation. We've got a government in freefall and when a government is in such desperate disarray you're not able to predict its actions," she said.
Lambert hasn't spoken to Education Minister George Abbott in a couple of weeks. She doesn't expect further contact until the BCTF is notified of who the mediator will be.
Abbott arrived back from a China trip late Monday, and an announcement about the mediator is expected soon, according to the education ministry.
The BCTF is also challenging Bill 22 in court, but that will likely take years.
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