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City teachers move forward with strike vote

New Westminster teachers will continue to vote today on whether to escalate job action, even after Education Minister George Abbott introduced legislation that would defer a teachers' right to legally strike.

New Westminster teachers will continue to vote today on whether to escalate job action, even after Education Minister George Abbott introduced legislation that would defer a teachers' right to legally strike.

"There hasn't been a suspension of the vote," said New Westminster Teachers' Union president Grant Osborne.

Osborne had just started reviewing Abbott's legislation, Bill 22, on Tuesday afternoon when The Record contacted him for a comment.

"There's lots to consider here," Osborne said about Abbott's legislation. "It's a 14-page document, and I'm only halfway through it."

Bill 22 does not impose a new contract on teachers but instead calls for a mediator to help resolve issues in bargaining until the summer.

"A cooling off period sounds helpful," Osborne said, though he wasn't pleased with the strike penalties in the bill - up to $475 per day for individual teachers, $2,500 a day for union officers and at least $1.3 million per day for the teachers' federation.

"We are hopeful that a mediator can help the parties achieve a negotiated agreement, in keeping with the more than 100 agreements already achieved under the government's bargaining mandate," Abbott said in a press release. "We hope the teachers' union will take a constructive approach and respect the cooling off period. However, if they choose a different path, the legislation includes stiff financial consequences for illegal strike action."

The Labour Relations Board ruled on Tuesday that teachers can strike for a maximum of three days with two days' advance notice. If Abbott's legislation passes, teachers - deemed an essential service - won't be legally allowed to strike.

Meanwhile, New Westminster teachers rallied at local schools, including Glenbrook Middle School, on Monday afternoon as a part of the "Day of Action" protest.

Teachers and the government have been locked in contentious contract negotiations for a year.

Teachers want a 15 per cent wage increase over three years, but the government has said that won't happen because there is a "net-zero" mandate for public-sector wage increases.

nhope@royalcityrecord.com