VANCOUVER — In a promising show of shared determination to end the teachers’ strike, negotiators on both sides of the dispute met at a Richmond hotel this weekend to continue talks that began Thursday.
The discussions — which included B.C. Teachers’ Federation head Jim Iker, negotiator Peter Cameron for the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association, and Vince Ready, a mediator — went past midnight Saturday, resumed Sunday morning and are continuing Sunday evening.
STRIKE NOTES: Updates for those affected by B.C.’s dispute with teachers
No statements were made to indicate if progress was being made, but the duration of the marathon sessions lent some optimism to the situation.
When the two sides last met at a Richmond hotel to engage in discussions in late August, Ready walked away because they were too far apart.
A media blackout is in place with reporters barred from entering the hotel.
The school year has been delayed indefinitely as more than 40,000 teachers picket across the province, waiting for their leadership and the government to strike an agreement so they can commence classes.
Teachers started strike action almost two weeks before the end of the school year in June.
Bargaining has been at a near standstill while both sides attempt to gain public support.
At 3 p.m. Sunday, Vancouver school board trustees Sophia Woo and Ken Denike arrived at the Delta Hotel causing a flurry of speculation among reporters, but the pair did not join the closed-door discussions and instead sat to wait for news.
Earlier in the day at the Vancouver Art Gallery, Kevin Dhir, 17, a would-be Grade 12 student at Sir Winston Churchill secondary spoke to several hundred people at a rally of parents and students calling for an end to their extended and unwelcome break from classes.
“There’s 550,000 students and we’re all going to be voters some day,” said Dhir. “I turn 18 next July. We’re not going to forget who’s behind this.”
The loss of two weeks of classes is going to have a negative effect, said Dhir.
“Even if we go back, it’s not going to be a nice grad year,” he said. “We’re going to have to cram and catch up for the rest of the year.”
Joanna Li, 16, was also hoping to be in Grade 12 at Churchill instead of at a protest in downtown Vancouver.
Her anxiety level, she said, is “ridiculous. “It’s through the roof,” she said. “We’ve been through so much.”
With files from Frank Luba
