Organizations in the Prince George area are feeling the effects of a looming full-scale teachers' strike - one that will see the strikers have no source of income.
The full-scale strike will begin Tuesday, barring no deal during weekend negotiations. Schools will be closed Monday for a study day for the teachers where they'll gather and learn about their options.
Friday was the last day local teachers were able to receive strike pay, with no other source of income in sight. A representative with Human Resources and Skills Development Canada said teachers will be unable to collect employment insurance during the job action unless they qualify under a different job. Nor does it look like the B.C. Teachers' Federation will be obtaining money from other labour organizations to replenish the strike fund.
"The B.C. Federation of Labour has not been approached by the BCTF for financial support," said Jim Sinclair, its president, in an email statement. He added his organization fully supports the teachers.
Local post-secondary institutions report they aren't concerned about a full-scale strike having an effect on its next intake of students in September. Troy Hanschen, UNBC's registrar, said it gets the final marks of a Grade 12 applicant's first semester and incomplete interim grades of their second semester from the ministry of education in late May and early June.
"Our [applicants] know whether or not they're admissible to the university," he said. "So we'll, at this point of time, honour all those offers of admission and wouldn't disadvantage any of the students that have been granted an offer."
There might be a few snags for those Grade 12 students that haven't applied yet.
"Those students might have to do a little extra legwork," Hanschen said, adding the university might ask them to send a copy of their report card or some other documents indicating which courses they have taken.
"We've got a lot of contingencies in place to make sure the students, in the UNBC region especially, are served," he said, adding there was more information for potential students about the issue on the university's website.
Some parents are looking at a solution where their children can avoid not only the current job dispute but also future problems in the public school system. In Prince George, there are three private Catholic schools operated by Catholic Independent Schools Prince George. Chris Dugdale, its superintendent of schools, said that while enrolment in its eight schools has increased by four to seven per cent over the last few years, it's not accepting new students during the job action.
"I've had my meeting of principals and I've advised them that we don't enrol students during job action because that's not the right reason to enrol them," he said, adding enrolling into the schools are a choice that parents should make to ensure their children receive an education rooted in the Catholic faith.
"Our numbers have not gone up during job action. I've monitored that closely," Dugdale said. "Is there interest? Yes, there's interest. Parents are inquiring but we'll wait for what's happening provincially to come to an end before we enrol students from the public system."
