I keep humming that. My heart is growing heavy, thinking of the innocent bystanders in this strike. The teachers who would rather be in the classrooms than standing out on the pavement. The single parent teachers, the two teacher families. How deep can their pockets be?
And the folks who have to work, leaving kids with friends or at home. The kids themselves...the ones who need the structure of school, the ones in Grade 12 and in the semester system. Craziness. The school boards that depend on international students to help meet their budgets. And no end in sight.
So today, the teachers voted overwhelmingly for binding arbitration, but no one thought the government would go for it. They are in the position of strength. They lose nothing by holding out until people can't pay their mortgages and are begging to sign any contract. Again, my heart is heavy, because I have no confidence that the government has any plan beyond breaking the union. Will they increase funding? Unlikely. Will they increase pay? Not a chance.
And attitudes are hardening.
Many of my government worker friends are no fans of the BCTF. Some common statements:
"Why should they get raises when we didn't?" Jealousy can cloud your judgement. I mean, I get it, but I think it blinds you to seeing the nuances in any argument. I am personally very familiar with the little green monster because as a self-employed person, I look through my green lenses at anyone who gets paid vacation, a year's [a year! I took 3 days!] maternity leave, and raises of any amount.
"The nurses didn't get what they want. Why should the teachers?" Huh. I wouldn't hold that example up as an example. The mess that our medical system is in with all the privatized services? The complaints about quality, poor pay for often new immigrants, poor training...
"Why should EVERY teacher get a $5000 signing bonus? It's disgusting!" It's a signing the new contract bonus - to cover the years of no pay increase. And, the government offered $1200, then took it off the table.
"They get the summers off." Well, yes. Which is why their contracts are for 10 months. But that fact is often met with, "Well they get paid really well for only 10 months work." Sigh. I guess so. As someone looking for work, EVERYONE gets paid well from my perspective. Christ, handing over $70 per hour to the blithering idiot we hired as an electrician just about killed me. Truly, a blithering idiot. There was blithering and there was idiocy. I bet his shop teachers didn't get paid that much. Hmmm...I wonder if that's why there's a shortage of shop teachers...
"They get unlimited massages. I know it because I heard of a teacher..." No. Stop. Just. Please. Stop. This argument is almost always from someone with the opinion that massage therapy is just a spa treatment. My mom, with her many health issues, gets weekly massages, but the way she groans and moans about how painful it is, I would never suggest she was at a spa. The teachers were asking for $700. Considering how much massage therapy costs - the national average is $60/visit - that's 12 visits. Maybe there is some other number somewhere, because I have had people INCENSED that I should suggest massages are often included in group benefit packages.
I have decided that my new approach to these arguments will be to "Smile and wave."
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