British Columbia Teachers on Strike
Offline I am pretty sure the school kids are happy with this. Their first day of school got cancelled. Why did nothing like that ever happen to me as a boy ? 
www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/b-c-teachers-strike-no-classes-on-what-is-supposed-to-be-1st-day-of-school-1.2752821
B.C. teachers' strike: No classes on what is supposed to be 1st day of school
With no public school classes, parents across B.C. make other plans
Canadian schoolchildren head back to school today — but not if they attend a public school in British Columbia, where the months-long teachers' strike has delayed the start of classes.
B.C.’s 40,000 public school teachers went on strike two weeks before the end of the last school year, leaving half a million students with no classes before summer vacation. Over the summer, the teachers' union and the B.C. government failed to resolve the contract dispute that led to the strike—and a last-ditch attempt at moving forward last week also fell through.
Daycare operators and other childcare providers have been scrambling to meet increased demand and many parents because of the strike, are now relying on what's being referred to as "strike camps" for kids.
Community centres in several B.C. cities are running day camp programs similar to the holiday and professional development day programs offered every year.
While Vancouver Park Board chair Aaron Jasper advertised Monday that day camp spots were still available at several Vancouver community centres, Heather Turner, director of recreation and culture with the District of North Vancouver, said her program's 150 spots are full.
Turner said the single biggest issue with running the day camps is staffing.
"A lot of our summer staff are now going back to post-secondary [schools], so that's been really difficult," she said. "We'll keep offering as much as we can for as long as we can, because we know this is really stressful for parents and families. We hope to be able to keep the same leaders on and to keep opening more spots.
Turner says turning away parents has been hard, and she hopes camp leaders will be available to come back to work on a moment's notice if she's able to find more camp space.
"Any time we have space in a building, we're trying to find somebody that can supervise kids and make sure that they have a great experience," she said.
The B.C. government has promised that during the strike, it would set aside $40 a day per public school child aged 12 and under. Parents and caregivers can put that money toward day camp programs or any other purpose they see fit.
Online registration to receive the "temporary education support for parents" payments went live Sunday, but the government has said the funds won't be disbursed until after the strike is over.
Rallies planned across B.C.
In Victoria, striking teachers are encouraging parents and students to attend a public 'teach-in' outside the B.C. legislature beginning at 9 a.m. PT, and the B.C. Teachers' Federation (BCTF) is encouraging anyone and everyone to rally at local MLA offices.
Over the weekend, after mediator Vince Ready said the latest attempt at negotiating a new contract for teachers had failed, BCTF president Jim Iker urged parents and others to contact their elected representatives "and let them know it's time for government to compromise."
“It is proof of a base and low mind for one to wish to think with the masses or majority, merely because the majority is the majority. Truth does not change because it is, or is not, believed by a majority of the people.”
― Giordano Bruno
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strikes make me feel romantic, longing for the days of the wobblies and the early CIO, back when unions meant something. i hope the teachers' union in canada is more of a credit to its name than the useless bag of corruption in america. i've participated in a couple teachers' strikes here in slovakia myself. not much came of it.
"I have never felt comfortable around people who talk about their feelings for Jesus, or any other deity for that matter, because they are usually none too bright. . . . Or maybe 'stupid' is a better way of saying it; but I have never seen much point in getting heavy with either stupid people or Jesus freaks, just as long as they don't bother me. In a world as weird and cruel as this one we have made for ourselves, I figure anybody who can find peace and personal happiness without ripping off somebody else deserves to be left alone. They will not inherit the earth, but then neither will I. . . . And I have learned to live, as it were, with the idea that I will never find peace and happiness, either. But as long as I know there's a pretty good chance I can get my hands on either one of them every once in a while, I do the best I can between high spots."
--Hunter S. Thompson
dp
This strike is more complex than most. It doesn't seem likely to end any time soon. The government doesn't want to force teachers back through binding arbitration because the last time BC did that it ended badly from the governments point of view. It can't back down because it already has secured public sector contracts at the same rate they offer the teachers, and giving the teachers more could start a chain reaction of strikes. The teachers union can't back down because it would give up victories in court on bargaining over class sizes and other things if it did. I don't know when or how it will end, but noone on either side is going to be happy when it does
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