Come on, teachers union, name your price
Now that the B.C. teachers union has expressed disgust at the government’s wage offer and is proceeding directly to a strike vote, there’s one obvious question: If the government isn’t offering enough money, then how much does the union want?
Incredibly, the union is not saying.
“We have not put a specific percentage on the table,” said Jim Iker, president of the B.C. Teachers Federation.
This is a ridiculous proposition. The union is asking its members to consider going on strike to back a wage demand without saying what the wage demand is.
And what about the students, their parents and B.C. taxpayers? They now must decide whom to support in this never-ending gong show without knowing a critical part of the equation: The money part.
Maybe that explains why Iker tried to clarify things Wednesday.
“We have tabled all of our provisions, including a salary provision,” he told Global TV. “We haven’t actually put numbers to that, but we do have a proposal.”
Yes, you read that right: He has a salary proposal with no numbers in it.
That’s like filing your tax return and leaving all the boxes blank. I somehow doubt that would satisfy the CRA and it shouldn’t satisfy British Columbians facing another round of turmoil in public schools.
Why won’t the teachers union just be honest and say how much money they want? Could it be that the amount is so vast they’re afraid to reveal it, knowing it would cost them public support?
Is it more than the 34-per-cent raise they demanded in 2001, just weeks after the 9/11 terrorist attacks sent shock waves through global stock markets?
Is it more than the 24-per-per cent raise they demanded in the very next round of bargaining?
Apparently, the BCTF doesn’t want you to know.
They do want you to know that the government’s wage offer — 6.5-percent over six years — is “unreasonable, unfair and provocative.”
But wait. This is supposed to be a “negotiation,” right? Maybe the government made a low offer that could be increased during the bargaining process.
You know, like when the BCTF demanded two weeks’ bereavement leave with pay for the death of a friend — a ridiculous demand they later took off the table.
Give and take. That’s how deals get done. But no deal will get done if the B.C. Teachers Federation won’t be honest with taxpayers, and reveal how much they want this time.