KELOWNA – Teachers around the province cast ballots today. They are voting on whether or not to ratify a tentative contract agreement reached earlier this week that could bring an end to the teachers’ strike.
Many teachers in the Central Okanagan School District converged on a Kelowna church this morning where they held a meeting before casting their ballots.
“They were stating their views very passionately. There is a lot of emotion in that room,” says Central Okanagan Teachers’ Association president Susan Bauhart. “The views were all over the map.”
Bauhart says she went through the deal piece-by-piece with union members.
“You show them the alternatives and then they make the call,” says Bauhart.
Local teachers had their own views about whether educators around the province will vote to ratify.
“It is going to likely be yes because of the financial hardship of teachers but it is not going to be a strong yes vote,” adds teacher Karen Bernath.
Read More: B.C. teachers vote on tentative deal; results expected at 9:30 p.m. tonight
Many teachers also expressed mixed emotions over the ratification vote.
“We haven’t achieved all that we went out for but I think that the public understands it can’t just be teachers fighting for public education,” says Bernath.
“We fought for a long time and I’m not entirely sure that we got what we wanted but it certainly is going to get us back into class and that’s important right now,” says teacher Wendy Bingham.
“It is not what we expected but we feel it is the best we could do,” says Cronquist.
The BC Teachers Federation is expected to announce the results of the province wide vote at a news conference this evening, scheduled for 9:30 p.m.
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