Students in North Shore public schools had an extra day off Thursday while teachers walked the picket lines in a steady drizzle.
Teachers were joined by unionized school support workers as rotating strikes hit North Vancouver and West Vancouver schools May 29. The scenario will be repeated on Tuesday, June 3, when schools in both districts will be behind picket lines again.
Outside Sutherland school, social studies teacher Norm Nichols said, "I'd rather be teaching" than on the picket line. But he said the decision by government to cut 10 per cent of teachers' wages has angered many educators. Before the rotating strikes began, teachers were not working any less, said Nichols. "The only thing we've done is miss a half-hour staff meeting," he said.
The pay cut has prompted some teachers to withdraw from taking part in extracurricular activities. "I had been planning to give a speech at grad," said Nichols. "I won't be doing that."
Daniel Storms, president of the North Vancouver Teachers Association, said the pay cut has been an "extreme irritant" to teachers, most of whom got their first cheque with the reduced pay this week. "They haven't actually reduced their work," he said.
Rob Millard, president of the West Vancouver Teachers Association, called the wage cut "way out of proportion" and said it has made a lot of teachers reconsider voluntary activities.
"A lot of teachers are looking at their paycheque and saying 'What am I doing?' " he said.
Lawyers for the teachers and employers appeared before the Labour Relations Board Thursday to argue over whether the pay cut was legal. No decision had been made by press time.
Meanwhile, the fate of many extracurricular and year-end activities remains unclear.
A North Vancouver district-wide elementary school track-and-field meet scheduled for Swangard Stadium next Tuesday has been cancelled because teachers will be striking that day. The event requires considerable advance planning, making it impossible to reschedule, said school district spokeswoman Victoria Miles.
In Lynn Valley, Jessica Stanley, the parent of a Grade 1 student at Ross Road elementary, organized a rally of about 25 parents supporting teachers outside MLA Jane Thornthwaite's office.
Stanley said she thinks most parents support the teachers so far, even though, "I have heard our field trips are going to be cancelled."
Some assemblies and special events for Grade 7 students at her school may also be cut, she said.
"Yes (teachers) are allowed to volunteer their time, but they're getting a pay cut so I don't expect them to do that," she said.
She said issues like class size are a concern for her. "I don't know how we can expect teachers to manage the numbers they have in their classrooms."
Martin Stuible, a Grade 5 and 6 teacher at Upper Lynn elementary, who was on the picket line Thursday, said he feels "enough is enough.
"We need to fight for what's right in the classroom," he said.
Stuible said teachers now have many more special needs students in their classes than they did in the past, without enough support. "It's way beyond what should be a manageable amount."
He said he thinks most parents understand that.
Besides issues of class size and composition, teachers have asked for a 13.7 per cent wage increase over four years. The government has offered 7.3 per cent over six years.
The North Vancouver School District has estimated it would cost $13 million to return class sizes to 2002 levels - before the government stripped those provisions from teachers' contracts.
