Dear Editor:
Mr. Palmer, in his commentary in the May 30/14 edition of The Record (Teachers show disrespect, Letters to the Editor), starts his lengthy remarks by stating: “The stand they’ve (teachers) taken is selfish, self serving and disrespectful towards students and the people of B.C.”
He finishes by stating: “Let’s move forward in a positive and conciliatory manner and be realistic about what is important and reasonable for the benefit of all.”
It appears that he believes that the only problem is with the above described teachers.
Successful negotiators would never be successful if they were to begin negotiations with those types of insulting comments.
It should be noted that Mr. Palmer did not list any specifics, only generalizations.
Among other things, Mr. Palmer neglected to note that the Supreme Court of British Columbia ruled twice in favour of the B.C. teachers with regard to class sizes, which of course is one of the major negotiating points.
Furthermore, at the same time, the Supreme Court awarded the B.C. Teachers’ Federation damages of $2 million. Therefore, one must guess that Mr. Palmer has no regard for the decisions of the Supreme Court of B.C.
What a pity that Mr. Palmer believes it is all the fault of the teachers. So much for “move forward in a positive and conciliatory manner etc.”
Donald Smith,
New Westminster
