A Summerland parent wants the province and the teachers’ union to resolve the labour dispute now, during the summer and before the school year is scheduled to begin in September.
On Monday morning, Linnea Good set up a parent picket on Jubilee Road West near Summerland Middle School. The picket will remain in place every morning this week.
“Don’t take a vacation from this,” Good said.
The existing strike began in March, when teachers voted 89 per cent in favour of job action. They had been without a contract since June, 2013.
The first phase of the job action began in late April, when teachers refused to supervise students outside of class time and refused to communicate in writing with administrators.
Rotating strikes took effect in late May.
The full-scale strike began in June. It has not yet been resolved.
Because the strike is continuing, there are questions about whether the start of the school year in early September will be delayed.
As a result, there are also questions about whether special activities will be cancelled this year.
“To see my kids headed into high school, not knowing if anything they’ve planned is going to happen, that’s going to hurt,” she said.
Good said her parent picket is not intended as a partisan statement nor as a way to side with either side in the ongoing dispute.
She said the dispute is not only affecting students, parents and teachers; it is also taking a toll on the provincial economy as a result of the uncertainty.