Letters / Opinion No Respect for Unions By Jean Telly The teacher’s dispute in British Columbia has _ finally ended in a bitter and incon- clusive manner. After a ten- month stalemate the liberal government handed out a settlement and told teachers to get back to work. The terms of the settlement among other things gave teachers a 7% wage increase, a far cry from the 22% asked for, along with several other concessions. The issue of what the con- tract settlement entailed was really only a side issue in the teacher's job action. Without the right to strike teachers had little leverage with which to pull for their cause. The *education minister thingy* had little reason to bargain with the teachers because the liberal government had already shown their willing- ness to legislate workers back to the job, as was evi- denced by the legislation back to work of transit work- ers in both Vancouver and Prince George earlier in the year. Many teachers feel like they have not been fairly treated by this process, and so the action continues in several districts. The distrib- ution of report cards is still in dispute in almost all of the districts in the province, as teachers do not feel that they should have to make up for what was missed during the job action. After school activ- ities, such as sports and drama have been taken up again in some schools, but in others they have not. A teacher’s day does not end with the bell. The activi- ties after school can be an extra several hours a couple days a week. For many teachers after school activi- ties are really enjoyed, but because teachers no longer. have any other alternative they were forced to do the only thing they could. The job of teaching seems to have lost the glory and excitement it once had. Teachers are no_ longer respected and revered the way they once were, but are expected to more than they ever had. The pay a teacher receives does not reflect the amount of training needed (six years) or the incredible amount of devotion it takes to really make a difference in a child’s life. One parent noted that the teacher’s dispute has really changed his views on teaching, “You know some- thing is wrong when you look at a school and think that the best job is that of the janitor’. lf this trend of disrespect for the bargaining process con- tinues, the government in British Columbia may find that they no longer have any one to bargain with. Mauriah Duncan, a plant biology stu- dent planning on going into teaching at the University of Northern British Columbia, is adamant about the situation saying, “Il wouldn't teach in BC, no matter how much you paid me [at least not with the liberals in power)’. An Open Letter from Marci Thomas: NUGSS First Nations Representative Dear: Staff, fellow represen- tatives of the Northern Undergraduate Student Society (NUGSS) and fellow : students. It is with deep regret that | am writing this letter. My name is Marci Thomas and | am the First Nations Representative for NUGSS. This letter is a formal apology to you from me. | am apolo- gizing for the fact that | was not present at the EGM dated February 6th, 2002. The rea- son behind this absence is | was preparing for a group A Pol By Steph Wilson In May 2001, 1,591,306 people of 2,254,920 regis- tered voters voted in the BC Liberal Party. The Liberals won 57.6% of the votes and secured 77 of 79 seats in the Legislature, thus terminating any hope for an NDP govern- ment. Now, post-Black Thursday, not a day goes by when you do not hear someone talking about the cuts. Editorials titled “The Liberals Misled Us!” are all over the newspa- pers. | would like to say to all the 916,910 people who voted Liberal on election day: the Liberals certainly never tried to hide their intentions. presentation for class as well as in class. | sincerely apolo- gize for this absence and hope that you as students can understand why it is that | was not present at this EGM. | found it necessary to present a report to you, the students, to show the duties | have fulfilled during my term on the NUGSS board. So | ask that you accept this as my report. My term as First Nations Representative in May; | have been on the Board of Directors for 8 months. My duties have included clerical itical Opinion On page 3 of the Liberal’s A New Era for BC, the party’s platform, it clearly states that the Liberal’s vision includes a “thriving private sector econ- omy that creates high-paying job opportunities.” The Liberals just created that pri- vate sector by cutting 11,700 government jobs. On page 11 of A New Era for BC, it states that “Our New Era is about liberating our economy and minimizing undue govern- ment intervention in people’s lives.” As this is found on the section entitled New Era of Employment, one could rea- sonably conclude that the Liberal government intended to cut the civil service and create a larger private sector. hours, which consists of pro- viding services to students or staff that may come into the office. These services include answering the telephone, fax- ing, locker rentals, and answering any questions you may have. Other duties included helping with the preparation of the annual Backyard Barbecue as well as the Battle of the Bands. | have also been involved with the Transportation Committee. This is a commit- tee that was formed during the transit strike; the main purpose of this committee is | am not saying that the extent of the cuts were explicit. In fact, very few people realized how many jobs would be cut. However, if people read the party plat- form and used common sense, right-wing rhetoric was clear. Why are people so shocked about Black Thursday? In the future, before we take up the great Canadian electoral game of voting people out and not in, we should put a tiny amount of effort into finding out just what we are voting into office. now to purchase a van. This van will be used for many events around UNBC. These events may include club events. as well as transporta- tion for students to CNC for basketball games and/or any other reasonable request for the use of this van. | have also been around the First Nations Centre to ask these students if they have any concerns that need to be voiced. | was also involved with the Chair of the First Nations Studies Program to attempt to improve upon the program. | and support. - Discover our online interactive features. ~ Find financial aid information. - Discuss topics important to you. - Connect with people from across Canada and around the world. www.cmha.ca/english/highered Promoting the Rights of Students with Psychiatric Disabilities Students experiencing mental health problems are no longer ‘hiding in the closet’! We are speaking up. We have the right to support and accommodations. Visit the Canadian Mental Health Association, Higher Education web site to learn more about rights do feel that | have done the best of my ability to represent the First Nations Program as well as the First Nations Students of UNBC. Once again, | do apologize to you for being absent from this EGM, but hope that you can understand and accept this report. | look forward to completing my term in office and also look forward to help- ing and representing the stu- dent body. Good luck with your studies. In friendship, Marci Thomas etal d SC HEALTH ASSOCIATION.