On Saturday, September 6, Education Minister Peter Fassbender announced that the BC government was rejecting the BC Teachers' Federation's proposal to seek binding arbitration in order to bring the ongoing labour dispute to an end.
Binding arbitration is a time-tested means of ending labour disputes when face-to-face negotiations and mediation break down. That the government dismissed it suggests that they are not interested in reaching a fair settlement.
It is time to end this strike. It’s time to stop playing politics with our children, teachers, and parents. It’s time for Minister Fassbender and Premier Clark to do what is right, to do what is clearly in the public interest, and to agree to what is really the only fair solution to ending this strike: binding arbitration.
Green Party of BC MLA for Oak Bay-Gordon Head, Andrew Weaver, has started a petition calling on the BC government to accept the BCTF's invitation to binding arbitration. Will you add your name?
The response has been incredible: less that 20 hours after first launching the petition, it already had over 8000 signatures!
Will you add your voice, and invite your friends, family and neighbours to do the same? Together we are making a difference.