Teachers in School District #27 will join their union comrades across the province in commencing stage 2 strike action with rotating, one-day walkouts May 26-29.
In the Cariboo-Chilcotin, teachers will be off the job and picketing on May 27.
British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF) president Jim Iker announced May 20 it has rejected government's $1,200 signing bonus offered May 16, which came along with threats of an impending five per cent pay cut if teachers won't perform all their duties.
Iker says teachers were "glad" to see government had reduced its contract proposal from 10 years to six.
However, the province's continued refusal to offer an acceptable salary package and restored class size and composition levels have prompted escalated job action, he explains.
Iker adds Stage 1, work-to-rule strike action began April 23 in hopes it would spur an offer teachers could work with, but after a month, they saw "no major incentive" in the "minor" signing bonus and wage deals with "more zeros."