THE
BC Federationist, in a release to members, says:
For salary and benefits — teachers want to “keep up” and “catch up.” What do we mean by that? We want to keep up with inflation ... unfortunately; the government’s position has and continues to be “net zero.” The government claims that taxpayers cannot afford increases to public sector wages and that wages must remain flat because the government is running a deficit.
Well
that really does sound reasonable, doesn’t it?
Yet it is simplistic in that the BC Teachers Federation (BCTF) fail to
acknowledge that an increase in wages for teachers means an increase to ALL
public sector employees that HAVE already negotiated "Net Zero" contracts.
Taxpayers
-- which includes teachers and all other government workers, have to understand
that means there would be an increase in fees and taxes, to pay for ANY wage or
salary increase for teachers! There is
ONLY one source of revenue for the government, so how do they plan to see wage
increases paid for otherwise?
The truth is the BC Federation of Labour, and the BCTF, don't care. The hierarchy of government unions want wage increases for all members, and they are using the teachers to try and force that.
