About 1,700 teachers on the North Shore will cast ballots in a strike vote next week.
But so far, both teachers and the government are telling parents there's no reason to panic about the threat of an imminent strike.
On Tuesday, the B.C. Teachers Federation announced they will conduct a strike vote between March 4 and 6. President Jim Iker said the strike vote is intended to send a message to government that teachers are unhappy with the government's position at bargaining talks and with the province's wage offer that includes a 0.5 per cent increase in the first three years.
"We can't keep on getting zero after zero," said Daniel Storms, president of the North Vancouver Teachers Association, who represents about 1,200 teachers.
Rob Millard, president of the West Vancouver Teachers Association, who represents about 550 teachers, said he anticipates teachers will vote overwhelmingly in favour of a strike.
But the union said that doesn't mean teachers will be walking off the job. Even if the strike vote is approved, teachers won't walk out, stop participating in extracurricular activities or doing report cards, said Iker.
The union will have 90 days from the vote to take some kind of job action before having to hold another vote. So far, the union hasn't said what that might be.
Peter Cameron, the government's chief negotiator in the talks, told reporters Tuesday he was disappointed the union had decided to debate the contract talks in the media.
Cameron described the government's wage offer as "an opening position," adding, "One of the factors in the negotiations should be fiscal reality."
