BC Teachers still calling for stricter policies despite new Labour Board recommendations

The Prince George District Teachers’ Association (PGDTA) and the BC Teachers Federation (BCTF) are pleased with the updated list of recommendations made this week by the Labour Relations Board.

Overall, the majority of the recommendations were made with the goal of having a more streamlined process of passing information within the groups involved.

One of the recommendations made was ‘increasing the role of the Ministry of Education’s COVID-19 Steering Committee and establishing a third-party group of neutral mediators to track and expedite concerns around safety.’

“This way the coordinator will be able to sit on the committee, hear the information and then take it directly to the interesting parties,”  explained Joanne Hapke, President of the PGDTA, “this is huge because the worst thing is getting information third or fourth hand.

Hapke said that her office has seen a disparity of information from the BCTF, because it appears they are not receiving the same information.

“That is really concerning because we give information and advice to our members based on what information we receive from the BCTF, so it’s disappointing when the School District is receiving similar but not the same information,” explained Hapke.

The BCTF expressed gratitude for the new troubleshooting process as well, as they expect it will help address concerns from teachers more quickly.

Some teachers have expressed a number of concerns to the BCTF including classroom cleaning measures not being completed, mask regulations not being enforced and sanitizer being unavailable.

“This process will allow us to take any concerns we’ve had from teachers in a fairly quick manner,” explained BCTF President Teri Mooring.

Despite being satisfied with the troubleshooting process, both groups still feel a degree of discomfort and uneasiness when it comes to some of the current policies set in place.

“There aren’t enough preventative measures right now, we’ve been calling since August for a much broader mask policy and a reduction in classroom density,” said Mooring.

Hapke explained that those who contact the PGDTA still share concerns on the mask policy, especially as more information on COVID-19 being an airborne illness is released.

The BCTF claims they will continue to push for stricter mask policies within the province as the school year continues.