Some of you belong to unions, some of you don't so some of might be interested, some of you not.

B.C.'s teachers have been legislated as an essential service, their bargaining rights stripped and have had four contracts imposed on them in the last ten years. We decided enough was enough and voted 90.5% to strike.

We were, of course, legislated back to work. We (40,000 teachers of B.C.) refused and continued to walk the line. We were held in contempt of court. We continued to walk. The union's assets were frozen so that they could not pay us our $50.00 a day strike pay or publicly advertise. We will continue to walk until the provincial government sits down with us to negotiate a contract.

Parents, students and other unions are supporting us. Our school trustees support us, City hall supports us, now the Federation of Labour is holding a protest in the provincial capital to protest an unjust law which has stripped us of our rights. All public sector and some private sector unions in the capital will join in.

We started out as 40,000 strong and now we are 210,000 strong and growing. Our support reaches from the Pacific to the Atlantic of Canada.

I am retiring in a few years so the working and learning conditions we are fighting for will not benefit me and in fact will hurt my pension. This is not about money or personal gain. Its about democratic principles.   I thought some of you might be interested to know that some of us are indeed ready to fight for democracy. Wish us luck - we will need it!

http://www.workingtv.com/bctfsupportrally.html