Students out of class for three weeks as Saanich support staff strike continues

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Frustration is building in Saanich, where kids have been out of school for three weeks as support staff continue to strike.

Teachers are showing support for their colleagues by rallying at the offices of B.C. politicians, with another rally planned for Friday at the Minister of Education’s office.

Don Peterson with the Saanich Teachers’ Association says the workers are vital and deserve to be paid as much as support workers elsewhere.

“They’re in maintenance, we might not always see them but they’re always doing work behind the scenes, making sure that schools are ready, schools are clean,” he says. “Our EA support workers who work one-on-one with students with special needs are vital to what we do in the schools.”

Peterson adds teachers are wondering why the province hasn’t intervened.

“Definitely there’s a lot of frustration amongst teachers. We are wondering why government hasn’t stepped in at this point, in a positive way.”

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.

“Back in 2005, our teachers, we got harmonized pay across the province. Just recently, a few years ago, our school trustees received a form of pay parity and we can just not understand why CUPE is not allowed to have their form of pay equity,” Peterson says.

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 Tim James