As local students celebrated the end of school year on Wednesday, teachers provincewide announced their intention to start job action in September if progress isn't made at the bargaining table.
Teachers in Surrey joined educators across B.C. in voting 90 per cent in favour of striking. About 70 per cent of teachers voted at polls last week and earlier this week.
“Surrey teachers are extremely disappointed by the lack of progress at both the provincial and local bargaining tables," said Surrey Teachers' Association president Denise Moffatt. "We want to work with our local school board to find ‘made in Surrey’ solutions. So far, our proposals have been met with silence. This vote sends a strong message that members are unified around our objectives and committed to improving teaching and learning conditions.”
If no progress is made in bargaining, the teachers' union plans to start a "teach-only" campaign on the first day of school on Sept. 6. Regular classroom instruction would be maintained, said Moffatt, but teachers would refuse to do administrative tasks.