Parents holding rallies for Saanich support workers on strike
Posted November 8, 2019 10:59 am.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Students in Saanich have now been out of class for two full weeks. But many parents are maintaining their support for the staff on strike and are holding rallies on Friday.
Carolyn Moeller is the mother of two students in the district, where support workers at 18 schools are on strike. She says parents need to remain united, even if it’s a struggle to pay for child care.
“Unfortunately that’s something that happens in the strike and I really feel for these people, but you have to direct your anger or frustration at the right people, and I don’t think that’s the union,” she says.
RELATED: School support staff at 18 schools strike in Saanich
Moeller is also dismissing Premier John Horgan’s suggestion that the union accept the latest offer from the Saanich School District.
“It’s just not good enough, and I think that the premier needs to maybe start helping figuring out some solutions rather than asking them to accept a contract that is just not fair, and not a reasonable option.”
Those on strike are asking for higher wages, and say workers in their district have been paid less than their counterparts in other places for decades.
About 7,300 students go to Saanich schools and the district decided to cancel classes when the teachers’ union said its members would not cross picket lines.
With files from the Canadian Press
