Solidarity Forever!

[Keeper]

One small point:

It kills me when I hear the rhetoric, "using the kids as pawns". When anyone goes on strike, their service is halted. Period.

When nurses go on strike, patients are "used as pawns". When Telus employees go on strike (or get locked out), customers are "used as pawns". When garbage collectors go on strike, we're all "used as pawns".

In this case, teachers are on strike and as a result, kids and their parents are "used as pawns". I mean, what else would be?

 

[PV]

Most of the kids aren't pawns, most are happy to have the day off school. Its the parents who are incovenienced having lost their combination baysitter/teacher for the day.
Interesting story in todays media about our great leader who said he had to intervene because God told him to intervene. Messages from God - right wing politicians get their instructions from god or from powerful business people like Jimmy Pattison.

 

[Regs]

For the teachers out there: Why are they called "pawns"? Why not "rooks" or "bishops"?

 

[Dude]

We may be pawns, but Hos is the Queen.

 

[Regs]

Is that why Dap loves him so?

 

[Keeper]

For the teachers out there: Why are they called "pawns"? Why not "rooks" or "bishops"?

Because there's so damn many of them, they're little and have big round heads.

And they're expendable, like school days.

 

[Skip]

Letter read in debate of Bill 12 by MLA Cariboo South:

I am a classroom teacher in Williams Lake, B.C., and just read the news report from Canadian Press in which the hon. minister is quoted as saying: "It is not the kind of example you would expect from people who are teaching our children. When you're a law-abiding citizen, you don't get to pick and choose which laws you want to abide by.”

As a classroom teacher, and as a citizen of what was once the finest province in the finest country in the world, I have to take exception to both these remarks. Law-abiding citizens do not break laws that are just, reasonable and protect the tenets of society. Law-abiding citizens understand the meaning of democracy, of civility and of due process. In the course of the last four and a half years during which your government has been in power, all I have seen is an erosion of democracy, civility and due process.

The International Labour Organization, which is a branch of the United Nations, has condemned your government more than once for breaking international law by legislating what you call collective agreements. I use that term because the agreement is neither collective nor an agreement. Canada is a signatory to the convention of that organization and therefore should be abiding by the rules. Apparently, your government has chosen not to follow those rules.

The courts determined that the arbitrator who stripped contracts for class size and composition language had overstepped his mandate and gone too far with the contract cuts he made.

Your government's response was to write a new law. Very clever. We don't like a law. Change the law when the courts rule against you. Now you are spending more taxpayer dollars by challenging our right to talk to parents about what is happening in our classrooms in the Supreme Court of Canada, having taken that fight to the lower courts in British Columbia and lost every time. Again, if you don't like the way a law is interpreted, spend more money to try to get the ruling overturned, even though freedom of speech is enshrined in that most democratic of documents, our Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

I hope that Martin Luther King and Gandhi are the heroes in your eyes that they are in mine. They chose to break unjust laws. I hope you regard the work of Otto Schindler in saving Jews from the Nazi storm troopers as heroic work, yet he broke the law. My job as a teacher is to create citizens who can think for themselves, who recognize justice when they see it and are willing to stand up for what they believe is right. If I'm setting a bad example for children in my room, then so be it. That's the cross I'll have to bear until they have the learning conditions they deserve. I bear that cross willingly in education, and it is signed.

 

[Bronco]

Get back to work, and take the Telus morons with you!

 

[Hands of Stone]

We may be pawns, but Hos is the Queen.

HOS, "holding the ditches as pawns", don't mess with us.

Check Mate
Queen HOS

 

[Dial 9-1-1]

A story about the "real world" that I witnessed today...

About two hours into my 6am picket shift, a handful of vehicles intermittently crossed the picket line to complete renovations to the school.

Two vehicles stopped at the picket and said, "Sorry guys, but we're non-union, and we've got to complete the electrical."

We had already moved out of the way and politely thanked them for their comments.

One truck of roofers, however, dangerously zipped past us at break-neck speed without saying a word to us or offering any sign of regrets.

Some of us were pissed off, but one teacher jokingly added: "No worries. Next week some of them are going to be confused when they can't find their ladder."

Another added, "Karma seems to make the world go 'round. They'll get theirs."

About 1/2 an hour later, a scruffy looking labourer approached the picket line and said, "Any idea where I can catch a bus to get to East Van?"

Turns out that he was one of the roofers. He got into an argument with his boss and was fired on the spot.

I've never been what you call a "solidarity forever" union person, but I am thankful that there is a union to protect me, and I'm sure that this roofer now wishes that he had someone to protect his job.

That karma works fast sometimes.

 

[Jinky]

Just out of curiosity 911, what school were you picketing? Is it VSB?

Because the karma may reach mach 4 if it is.

 

[Bronco]

but I am thankful that there is a union to protect me.

Protect you?? Why do you need protection? Are you apt to being insubordinate, or completely incompetent? If you are I apologize, you do need all the protection you can get, and I'm sure you get it from your brethren. Being in management at a non-union company, I can assure you that letting someone go is the last thing you ever want to do. The hiring process is an absolute nightmare. When you have good staff, you hold onto them, when you have shite, you let them go.


Unless of course you are referring to an altogether other type of protection, in which case you don't need a union, you need a drug store!

 

[Dial 9-1-1]

Protect you?? Why do you need protection?

Because I work for a government that likes to rip contracts and make their own rules when they see fit.

Because I work in an occupation where you sometimes have to be insubordinate to get adequate supplies or, better yet, heat in a classroom.

Because I work in an occupation where I sometimes have to be brutally honest with my "clients" (parents and students) and then have to deal with the fallout later.

Yes, the union does protect crappy teachers, but on a number of occasions I've seen it protect great teachers who have had to face bogus accusations from spiteful parents, students, and even colleagues!

Lawyer and court fees aren't cheap, and if someone with a hard-on really wanted to go after a teacher and ruin his/her life, they could and would if there wasn't a union there.

The union allows me to be "me" and not some brown nosing employee hoping to lick his or her way up the corporate ladder.

It's in the world of "management" when you need to visit the drug store for protection!

P.S. Jinky, it occurred on the N. Shore.

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Recent footage of Skip/Aves on the picket line. Pretty impressive actually.



[video=google;-4505462782975458603]http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4505462782975458603&q=football[/video]

 

[STD]

I personally feel that unions are a thing of the past and in most cases should be eliminated. Normally if I hear about someone going on strike I have little to no sympathy for them. I do feel that this is an exception though. When you actually listen to the concerns of the teachers, (which I have to everytime we have a family dinner), you begin to understand that it is about the quality of the education the kids are receiving. It is a rare occasion that I here them bitching about a higher salary, it usually is about supplies, class sizes and help for special needs children. Most teachers seem to entre the field of education because of a desire to help kids learn and are upset when they cannot provide them the level of education they feel they deserve. I do agree with Bronco when it comes to running a buisness but schools cannot be run with that same attitude. Dial I am sure that roofer probably deserved to be let go because there is a shortage of good trades people out there so I doubt he was let go for no reason. Maybe a union could have prevented him from being let go but that would most likely be a case where a union was protecting a bad worker.
Bottom line if a teacher wants to be rich I would say find another job but if a teacher wants the proper tools to teach the kids we should support them.

Solidarity Sometimes

 

[Skip]

Recent footage of Skip/Aves on the picket line.

I don't see Aves there?

 

[Hands of Stone]

Dude is going to LOVE this post!

TEACHERS DISPUTE UPDATE - October 11, 2005

Help spread the word - forward this e-mail to your friends.

CONTENTS
--------

1.> LABOUR BUILDS SOLIDARITY FOR TEACHERS

2.> FED POLL SHOWS PUBLIC BEHIND TEACHERS

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

1.> LABOUR BUILDING SOLIDARITY FOR TEACHERS The B.C. Federation of Labour,
along with local Labour Councils and unions around the province, have
organized 19 rallies around the province and have asked union members and
the public to come out to support BC Teachers in their fight to reach a
negotiated agreement.

"The government's move to force teachers back to work is a direct attack on
the rights of every working person in this province,"
said B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair. "Teachers are
serious about negotiating better learning conditions for our kids but the
Gordon Campbell government prefers confrontation over negotiation."

Sinclair added that while teachers have been walking the line to improve
education for kids, Gordon Campbell is out of the province.

"We're at a critical moment here in BC, but the government of the day
thinks they can avoid the issue by writing a law and walking away,"
continued Sinclair. "Bullying doesn't work in the schoolyard and it
shouldn't work in this province."

Sinclair, along with several leaders from affiliated unions, this morning
walked the picket line with protesting teachers at William MacDonald
Elementary School in Vancouver.

For rally details in your area, please visit the B.C. Federation of Labour
calendar on our website:

< http://www.bcfed.com/Coming+Events/index.htm >

+++|+++

2.> FED POLL SHOWS PUBLIC BEHIND TEACHERS The public, by a two-to-one
margin oppose the actions of the government in ordering the teachers back-
to-work according to a poll released by the Federation. The poll, conducted
by Ideaworks/Stratcomm on October 6 and 7 and released October 10, showed
that teachers enjoy the support of the public in their demands for improved
learning conditions and a fair wage increase.

In particular, 67 percent of British Columbians surveyed disagreed with the
BC Liberals decision to impose a contract on teachers.
Over half of those surveyed indicated teachers should be allowed to
negotiate class size and special needs support at the bargaining table.
Similarly over half indicated they supported public protests if the
government ordered teachers back-to-work.

-------------------------------------------------
For full poll results, please see the latest news release on our
website:

< http://www.bcfed.com >

 

[Captain Shamrock]

Are these ****ing polls going to help pay for my lost wages? I'm sure the other 10% who voted no are thinking the same thing.


GTF BCTF and the government............

 

[robj]

I believe in Capitalism, but this government has gone too far when they impose legislation and then say you are breaking the law. People are fed up and the only way to beat a bully is to fight back. All I have heard from Gordon Campbell is BC is prospering we are strong. I guess he is lying...................no impossible that a politician would lie to us the taxpayer.

Hypothetically Bronco think about it if your boss came in tommorrow and said ...oh by the way you are not getting a raise your holidays have been rolled back you now have to supervise 40 people with the thinking capacity of 12 years olds, you're telling me you wouldn't say anything. You would just take it. Come on even a person like you should understand reason.

I agree people that work hard do not need to hide behind a union or need protection from the union. CUPE is the first union I have been a part of and I gotta say Medical, dental, retirement, wages, and holidays are sure nice to have especially when you work 50 hour weeks. There is no way I would have this if my job was not unionized.

Bronco if you never were in a union or your job site is not unionized why the hatred? Why do you even care?

Now I know you are listed as one of the worst TTPers of all time so I am not even sure if I should respond to any of your posts

 

[Jinky]

Protect you?? Why do you need protection? Are you apt to being insubordinate, or completely incompetent? If you are I apologize, you do need all the protection you can get, and I'm sure you get it from your brethren. Being in management at a non-union company, I can assure you that letting someone go is the last thing you ever want to do. The hiring process is an absolute nightmare. When you have good staff, you hold onto them, when you have shite, you let them go.


Unless of course you are referring to an altogether other type of protection, in which case you don't need a union, you need a drug store!

Bronco, why do you fear a collectively bargained agreement? Are you apt to being an unscrupulous employer? Or completely incompetent? If you are I apologize, you do need all the protection you can get.

If you are the bastion of fair management you claim to be then you have nothing to fear from a union. As long as both sides abide by the agreement there shouldn't be a problem. Of course when you are the Campbell government you don't have to abide by any agreements, except the ones you legislate.

Dial I am sure that roofer probably deserved to be let go because there is a shortage of good trades people out there so I doubt he was let go for no reason. Maybe a union could have prevented him from being let go but that would most likely be a case where a union was protecting a bad worker.

And you know this how?