he probably meant "their" job

http://www.quickmeme.com/img/da/da1b...255d58b977.jpg

Yeah pretty much from my understanding.

oh shit!! summer break is finally over. :eek:

Fucking homework, poor kids
http://workitmom.com/bloggers/thesam...ustration.jpeg

i may be dating myself because when i saw your post i was thinking...
http://img1.ak.crunchyroll.com/i/spi...45577_full.jpg

or nelly's ride with me :lol

serious question - how do you feel about your union and how they acted in this?

do you think that inbred hillbilly of a leader of yours is worth a penny of what is likely a material income?

let's not forget, unions are a business, they're not solely there for their members. they're only there for their members insomuch as they can make money from being there for their members.

acrophobia's reply has already summed it up best -- no one wins out of the job action, but the reason for the job action was definitely not about getting more money for the teachers themselves. Hell, they've lost 5 weeks' worth of salary. How long do you think it'll take for the negotiated pay raise to make up for the money they've lost?

The material thing that counted is, we have some new money getting pumped into the system to hire more new teachers so that class sizes would actually have a chance of dropping back down to levels that have been dictated by the law.

Last but not least, leaving the class size and composition issues for the provincial court to decide is the right thing to do, because that's what civil societies do. When there is a difference in opinion regarding something that is legally binding and private negotiations failed to bridge that gap, a civil society turns to their court system to have the issue resolved. Either (or both) parties may or may not agree with the outcome, but we agree to abide by the verdict, and that's what makes our country different from some 3rd world banana republic.

I'm just happy that the teachers got what they wanted. People may agree or disagree about the way they went about getting it. I applaud them for taking a stand for what they thought was right and getting it done. Too many people in our country are bending over and taking it from the government with constant tax increases, BS fines and levies on everything with the general public getting next to nothing in return.

For most teachers the amount they lost in the last month will not be made back by the end of the new contract. The lack of money for "hiring new teachers" previously was the reason they had removed limits on class sizes; to accommodate the budget... so I wouldn't say it was "not about the kids"

Here is the best summary i've seen:
Tentative deal for B.C. teachers means relief and hope - The Globe and Mail

doesn't it kind of seem like the deal the gov offered before the strike started? I think it's far from what the teachers wanted. Poor leadership does result in a poor deal for the teachers from their perspective. From my perspective, the teachers were asking too much but that's merely a personal opinion. That being said, it's about time kids get back in school.

Yes, because the government won.

The only reason the teachers got half of what they got was because how much wages the government saved during the 5 weeks they didnt pay them.

Had the teachers settled near the end of the school year the government was offering a contract similar in duration to what they signed, with similar percent increase per year, and also a $1000+ Signing bonus. The $108 million would have been slightly lower (i think about $60 million but w/e).

The union lost the support of its members, there was countless interviews with teachers by news shows, papers, and such where teachers many teachers simply said "Fuck it, lets just go back to work". Once that happened the government knew they just had to hold on until the union finally either: A. Collapsed on itself or B. gave up on their outrageous demands.

Flash forward a couple weeks and here we are.

It's kinda sad the the upside for the teachers is that they "didn't lose what was illegally taken away from them"

Meme405, while I agree with most of your assessment, I think your summary above missed a very important point -- had the teachers agreed to a renew contract back in June, they would have had to give up on the wait for the court ruling. The new contract at the time was to have the provincial government re-negotiate the class size and composition clauses with the BCTF, and agreeing to that would have completely nullified whatever ruling the court comes to.

As Gatorade has said, it is extremely sad that the only upside for the teachers was that they didn't lose what was illegally taken away from them.

The limited liability dictated by grievence fund is just complete bs and a major ripoff. It is no different than a big FU from Crusty Cunt to the BCTF... In many ways, Crusty Cunt is also giving a big fat finger to the court as well should the ruling go in BCTF's favour again.

For those who supported the teacher throughout this labour dispute, please remember what has happened today when our next provincial election arrives in 3 years.

Unfortunately from my POV provincial elections are about picking the least evil option.

In federal elections my opinion sways depending on the candidates and their platform, in provincial elections if I could vote for all the candidates and parties to fuck right off I probably would have done so in both of the last two elections

I will NEVER in this lifetime vote NDP, so realistically here in BC that leaves me with Crusty Cunt and her merry band of idiots.

^ I wouldn't say never, i'm getting real tired of Crusty and her shit so much that the NDP seems appealing...

Doesn't mean i'll vote for them, it's always been which platform is better and the NDP's always seems like some undereducated/underpaid intern came up with theirs. The sense i've gotten over the past few elections is do I wanna get shot in the face or do I wanna get shot in the back of the head? Do I take this vial that makes me puke shit violently til I die or do I take this vial that sticks a thousand dildos up my ass before I die? Either way I'm fucked.

There's never really any good choices anymore when it comes to politics. It's always which option is less shitty.

There is nothing wrong at all about picking the least evil option -- all I'm saying is that voters need to remember this labour dispute and take it into consideration when they are weighing the pros and cons between the competing parties. All too often, voters forget everything that happened in the first 3 years of a government's term, and then when decision time comes, they only remember the recent history and the false promises that a party offers.

I respect your dislike against the NDP, but especially in a 2 party system such as the provincial political structure that we have, I think it is wrong to always support just a single political entity. We all know power corrupts, and the long standing BC Liberal rule at the provincial level, and the multi-time repeated win of the federal Conservatives has shown that should any party remain in power for too long, tyranny results. For the system (and by extension, our society) to work, the political pendulum needs to sway back and forth every so often. Otherwise, the balance will be thrown off to favour only just one side.

The problem with the 2 party system is that you're always going to have to sacrifice some things by voting for either party, which is a huge pain in the ass. It'd be nice to get somebody who isn't extreme to one end of things or the other.

Based on that info acrophobia, makes about $86k (9000/5weeks = $1800/week x 4= $7200/mo x 12 = 86k) per year. When did making 86k become "not enough".
If I got paid 86k and got a raise on top of that that was not based on performance, but on seniority each year, I'd be pumped to go back to work too. My next raise is only 3 months away... woot woot!

Disclaimer: Acrophobia - this is not directed towards you personally, but towards the BCTF and how it's not about the money and about the kids.

Just correcting your math - teachers only work 10 months of the year so it's $7200/mo x 10 = 72k per "year". Hmm, still seems like quite a bit though!

I've probably spoken to about 10 teachers since the strike started, at social engagements such as parties or at the pub, and all of them were more than happy with the salaries they were getting and were happy to continue working for those wages. It seems more like it was their union heads and BCTF that were pushing for raises and increased benefits.

Christy Clark and the entire BCTF just look like complete idiots. I'm 99% sure I'll be voting BC Liberals again next election as their platform historically has been the most agreeable to me and I personally despise the majority of the NDPs platform and leaders even more, I'll just hope Clark steps aside for a new BC Liberal leader.


Smyth: It?s a disgrace our kids were used as weapons to achieve the inevitable in teachers' deal

You have to take into consideration that the wage increase over 6 years averages to 1.2% vs. the BC cost of living increase of 1.4% a year, he is essentially getting a pay cut by the end of the contract (not including the lost strike wages which won't be made up by the raise, also not including the 0% seen in the last 3 years.)

Maybe you get paid a good amount right now (teacher or not), but no one wants their purchasing power to be decreased in 5 years.

I don't believe in "the lesser evil" when it comes to politics, all parties want changes that I don't believe in, I won't bend for something I don't support if I have the choice.

The notion of "no vote no voice" is a weak attempt at making me pity fuck someone just because they aren't as trash as the next tool to line up and lie to me.