April 17, 2014 - 3:20 PM
VANCOUVER - Job action by British Columbia's 41,000 public-school teachers will begin on Wednesday, but the union's president says schools will remain open.
Jim Iker of the B.C. Teachers Federation says the first stage of job action means teachers won't attend meetings with management, other than health and safety talks, or supervise students outside regular class hours.
He also says teachers won't provide or receive printed, written or electronic communications from administrators or be at work more than an hour before or after classes.
Iker says the action won't disrupt students, and members will continue to teach, write report cards, talk with parents and volunteer for extra activities.
Iker says there's been little movement in contract talks with the government since March 6 when teachers voted to take job action.
At issue are class sizes, pay, staffing levels and what Iker says is an unreasonable 10-year contract term.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2014