Retiring Revelstoke Teachers Association President Bill MacFarlane (second from the left) and other educators rallied at Victoria Road and Mackenzie Avenue to wave placards and solicit honks of support from passing drivers. “It’s rush hour in Revelstoke,” MacFarlane said. “This is the perfect place and time.” BC teachers have been locked in a bitterly contested contract dispute with the province for several months and it looks as though that dispute could continue through the summer and into the next school year as well. MacFarlane said the rally was intended to draw special attention to Bill 22. That allows the provincial government to eliminate the Charter-protected right of teachers to participate in full collective bargaining, he said. “It also predetermines the outcome of mediation because of the requirement outlined in the legislation that the mediator is required to ensure that that BCPSEA’s concessions on seniority, layoff and recall, evaluation and dismissal, and teachers’ professional autonomy are addressed in a collective agreement. It is clear that the government is using its legislative authority to impose instead of negotiating a fair and reasonable collective agreement.” David F. Rooney photo
