Schools in North Vancouver and West Vancouver will be behind teachers' picket lines next Thursday, May 29, the B.C. Teachers Federation has announced.
The teachers' strike on the North Shore is part of a schedule of four one-day rotating strikes announced Tuesday for schools around the province next week.
Officials at both North Vancouver and West Vancouver school districts said parents will have to make other arrangements for their children next Thursday.
Picket lines will be set up at between 14 and 16 school districts each day between Monday, May 26 and Thursday, May 29.
"The impact will be significant," said Jim Iker, president of the BCT F in a press conference Tuesday morning.
"We know it's not ideal," said Daniel Storms, president of the North Vancouver Teachers Association. "It's not something we do lightly."
The teachers union made the announcement after provincial negotiators threatened last week to cut teachers' wages over the current job action that has affected some administrative work at schools.
Iker said that move crushed any hopes that the government intended to bargain in good faith with teachers, calling the threat "disrespectful" and "unnecessary."
He added the teachers union is giving parents more notice than legally required of planned school strikes.
The BCT F has published a list of when the rotating strikes will hit various school districts on its website.
Some neighbouring school districts, including the Vancouver and Sea-to-Sky districts, will be the first behind picket lines on Monday, May 26.
There are no strikes scheduled for Friday, May 30.
Further rotating strikes could be scheduled for June, depending on whether progress is made at the bargaining table, said Iker.
Talks are set to resume this Thursday and Friday.
Iker said class size and composition remains a key issue for teachers.
According to Ministry of Education statistics, there are 629 classes in North Vancouver schools with four or more special needs students, compared to 209 classes six years ago.
"That's still a huge issue," said Storms. "Parents get that."
So far, the government has not budged on that issue, said Iker, despite the BCT F winning two court decisions that concluded the government illegally stripped teachers' contracts of provisions limiting class size and composition over a decade ago. The province is appealing the latest court decision.
Earlier this spring, the province asked school districts to provide rough estimates of the cost of restoring class sizes to levels provided for in the 2002 contracts. In the North Vancouver School District, that figure was estimated at up to $13 million, in a worst-case scenario.
Last week the government dropped its demand for a 10-year deal with teachers. The province has offered a six-year deal with a wage increase of about 6.5 per cent.
Teachers are asking for an increase of 13.75 per cent over a four-year deal.
Education Minister Peter Fassbender said Tuesday he was "disappointed" with the teachers' decision to stage rotating strikes.
