Members of the Coquitlam Teachers' Association plan to rally Tuesday, Oct. 7 out front of School District 43 offices.
The rally is is set for 3:30 p.m., according to a press release.
The rally, called Honest Pay for Honest Work, comes as the district promises to inquire whether any provisions have been made provincially to cover lost wages for Sept. 19, the day teachers returned to work.
According to the district, salaries are paid out monthly based on a 20-day working cycle, according to the collective agreement, and with 13 days lost due the strike, teachers were only paid for seven days. However, they worked eight days, including Friday, Sept. 19 when they were in classes preparing for school after the strike ended.
In a statement, CTA president Charley King said the explanation secretary treasurer Mark Ferrari gave at Tuesday's board of education only further angered the union.
"If it's true that the employer always intended to pay teachers according our local formula and not in accordance with the provincial agreement, then it was a case of 'bait and switch'; we were told we would be paid for the day and the employer only told us that they were pro-rating the pay well after the fact."
King stated further that he hopes for a resolution: "We need to get on with the year. Our number one priority is educating kids, not playing games with the district. Do what you said you were going to do. Pay us for the day. It's that simple. You make a promise, you keep that promise. That's what we teach the kids."
However, in a conversation with The News today, board chair Melissa Hyndes said the district plans to contact the BC Public School Employers' Association for advice on the teachers' pay.
The district estimates paying the teachers for the day would cost about $850,000 including benefits, and Hyndes told The Tri-City News that if the provincial agreement does supplant the local collective agreement, she hopes that the day's pay would covered by the province.
"When the government says that the deal was fully funded, to me, then, it should be fully funded," Hyndes said.
