Microsoft Word - Ivanova_LTAForum-July2014_140909_II-LB.docx Why teachers are still striking SPEECH TO THE LANGLEY TEACHERS ASSOCIATION’S PUBLIC FORUM ON EDUCATION By Iglika Ivanova Iglika Ivanova is an economist and the Public Interest Researcher at the CCPA–BC. [...] We’re not booming—I’m sure you all know that—but our economy is still projected to grow.1 The teachers are bargaining for a five- ‐year term, so I looked at the BC Budget and I asked, “How much does the government forecast that the economy will grow over the five years of the collective agreement?” The economy is projected to grow. [...] They are projected to increase by 15% over that five- ‐year term of the agreement.3 Even if we accept the government’s costing of the teachers’ demands as a 14.5% increase4—which a lot of people are disputing—this is actually in line with projected revenue increases of 15% over the next five years. [...] 1 The Economics Forecast Council, a group of private sector economists that provides regular economic forecasts to the BC Ministry of Finance, estimates that the BC economy grew by 1.4% in real terms (after adjusting for inflation) i. [...] Page 4 | Why teachers are still striking, July 2014 .
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