Teachers' job action starts today at B.C. schools

Recess will be cancelled in several school districts across B.C. as the province's 41,000 publicschool teachers begin job action on Wednesday.

The districts that have cancelled recess include:

• Prince George
• Quesnel
• Prince Rupert
• Arrow Lakes
• North Okanagan-Shuswap
• Central Okanagan
• Qualicum
• Coast Mountains
• Bulkley Valley

Northern Vancouver Island School District had considered cancelling recess, but reconsidered.

B.C. Teachers' Federation president Jim Iker says teachers will refuse to supervise students outside the classroom or communicate in writing with principals and other administrators.

Iker explained that voluntary activities in which teachers are involved will continue during the first phaseof the planned job action, but some teachers' dutieswill be left to principals, vice-principalsand other management.

In some cases, cancelling recess couldmean the school day is shortened by 15 minutes.

But teachers will still be taking attendance, marking and assessing students, completing report cards, communicating with parents and participating in volunteer extracurricular activities.

Escalating job action planned

The withdrawal of non-essentialduties is part of the first stage in amulti-levelstrike action that was announced by the B.C. Teachers Federation (BCTF) last week.

Their contracts expired last June, and the federation says it's being forced to take action because negotiations are slow.

Iker won't say how long the initial phase will last, but says the lack of progress at the bargaining table will lead to rotating strikes across the province, with 48 hours' notice.

• More:Initial job action will withdraw administrative services

Wages and class sizes have been a major stumbling block between teachers and the provincial government, leading up to Wednesday's job action.

The B.C Teachers' Federation wants to see smaller class sizes, and its president says members earn lower salaries than their colleagues in other provinces.

But Education Minister Peter Fassbender says research from around the world proves class size is not a prerequisite to student success.

He says the wage demands of teachers are also out of step with other unions in the publicsector.

Fassbenderhas said there has been virtually no movement at the bargaining table, adding thatthe BCTFappears to have been busier planning its strike action thanresolvingthe labour dispute.

The relationship between theB.C. government and teachers has been contentious for more than a decade.

In 2001, the province passed legislation thatstripped teachers of their rightto negotiate class size, class composition and staffing levels.

InApril 2011, the B.C. Supreme Court ruled the legislation was unconstitutional and gave the province one yearto restore teachers' collective bargaining rights.

When the government failed to do so, however, it wasfined $2 million in damages.

Theprovince says it is appealing that ruling, and has beengranted an injunctiondelaying the restoration of teachers' pre-2001bargaining rights until the appeal can be heard.