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STAR | Thursday, September 4, 2014
Lauren Barwick Wins at Worlds! Worlds!
Page 15: Seniors Games Spirit to Live On
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Chillin’ on the Last Days of Summer for ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
KURT LANGMANN PHOTO
Students and staff of Aldergrove’s Kick it up a Notch Dance Studio gathered for a group photo after completing the “Ice Bucket Challenge for ALS” on Thursday, August 28. Studio director/owner Tonya Wejr was first up as the students and staff took turns at dousing each other with buckets of ice cold water on the sidewalk in front of the studio. There were shrieks from the girls but they managed to keep their poise as the cold water poured over them one by one. Wejr also challenged other dance studios to take the challenge, as well as the firefighters from Aldergrove area Fire Halls #3 and #6.
Parents told to brace for long shutdown of schools By JEFF NAGEL Aldergrove Star
Pickets were brandished instead of pencils at public schools Tuesday after an attempt at mediated talks to resolve the teachers strike collapsed over the weekend, ending hopes classes could start on schedule. School district administrators warned parents of children requiring alternate child care to plan for a lengthy shutdown of schools and to not assume the labour dispute will be resolved in a matter of days. Veteran mediator Vince Ready walked away from the exploratory negotiations Saturday, saying the two sides were at “an impasse” and simply
too far apart – particularly on wages and benefits – for mediation to be productive. B.C. Teachers Federation president Jim Iker said the two sides are just one per cent apart on wages. The government offer is seven per cent over six years, while the union wants eight per cent over five. But Education Minister Peter Fassbender said the BCTF demand is still nearly twice what other public sector unions have settled for once benefit demands are included. The province has also taken a $1,200 signing bonus off the table, while the union still wants $5,000, which makes up a big chunk of what
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the government says is a $300-million gulf between the positions, The province has offered a $75-million Learning Improvement Fund to help address special needs but the union wants much more for special needs and to settle grievances. Another challenge to a negotiated settlement remains the government’s pending appeal of a B.C. Supreme Court ruling that it violated the union’s bargaining rights in 2002 when it stripped provisions on class size and support. Iker claimed the BCTF has reduced its demands by $125 million, including a cut in the size of its proposed fund to settle grievances, while
the government offered no meaningful moves in return and “squandered” the chance at a deal. He said the province wants new contract language that will “nullify” the union’s legal victories on class size and composition and circumvent any future appeal court ruling in teachers’ favour. “B.C. teachers will not bargain away everything that the B.C. Supreme Court has already awarded us and we will not jeopardize any future court decision,” Iker said. “The government must back off that unreasonable request and invest money in the system now.” Fassbender again insisted the
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province won’t legislate the teachers back to work, saying it would keep the government and union “on the same dysfunctional treadmill” they’ve been on for 30 years. “Negotiating a settlement requires union leaders to stand in front of their members and explain what has been achieved at the bargaining table,” he said. “I worry the BCTF leadership is actually counting on government to legislate an end to this strike so they can avoid having a difficult conversation with their members about what is realistic and achievable.” He had previously urged the SEE: Page 3
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