Quitting Time?

As the countdown to a General Strike in British Columbia continues in Prince George today, many people are asking about public school teachers: "If they hate their jobs so much, why don't they just quit?"

I've heard that from passers by so often at so many picket lines I've been at, it's become like a mantra to me. However, the Sensei will tell you that a good mantra can reveal the path to enlightment. In the case of BCTF, there may be at least a flicker here to settle things with the BCPSEA and the Lieberals.

If teachers aren't getting paid because they're on strike, and they're not getting strike pay because Brenda Brown wants to suck up to Gordon Campbell and follow in Wally Opal's footsteps, why don't teachers just quit? Who's going to stop them? How can teachers be in contempt of court if they're not teachers anymore?

Before you slap a defeatist label on this page, I'm not thinking of one or two teachers here, I'm thinking of each and every BC public school teacher opposed to Bill 12 (which would be expect for the thimble full of scabs crying to the media, all of them). BCNU nurses used this tactic four years ago with considerable success, and if a mass resignation is coupled with pictures of Jinny Sims being lead away in handcuffs, it would be devastating for the Fiberals.

If Gordon Campbell and the Business Council of BC want to wave their nads around and bellow about "not backing down" and "respecting the rule of law", they deserve nothing less than the complete collapse of the public school system in British Columbia, and being forced to pick up the pieces. It's a sad prospect for BC students, but hey, Premier knows best, right?

At that moment, real negotiations with the BCTF wouldn't seem so 'militant' after all...