There is no magic pot of money to pay for any wage increases --- so what is this strike really all about?

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.

Here's the bottom line however.  There is no magic pot of money to pay for any wage increases.   

The means teachers may as well get back in the classroom, and the the BCTF can then try and negotiate a contract that looks at the other goals they are trying to see happen with class size and adding teaching assistants.  On that there is at least a chance of making change.

Saying that a, “…fair deal is attainable. It can be done within the current financial climate of moderate growth…” is a pipe dream.  The BCTF and the BC Federation of Labour know this --- so what is this strike really all about?

I’m Alan Forseth in Kamloops, with the thoughts of one conservative.


FOLLOW-UP:
A story in the Surrey Leader went online after the above blog story was posted.  The news story was entitled "Thousands rally for striking teachers", and it stated:

"Between 4,000 and 5,000 union members marched on the B.C. legislature Tuesday to protest legislation putting an end to seven months of strike action by public school teachers."

I have to say that those numbers don't sound like a very strong endorsement to me, given the membership of both the BCTF ... and the BC Federation of Labour.

Perhaps many union people are NOT so enamored by the executive of the union, and perhaps questions the sanity of re-opening every government contract already negotiated in the past couple years at Net Zero??