Gov't wants teachers' pay

A lawyer representing the employer in the BC teachers' contract dispute says it's entitled to deduct 10 per cent pay during union strike action because teachers are working fewer hours and providing irregular instruction.

Eric Harris, who represents the BC Public School Employers' Association, asked the provincial Labour Relations Board to find that employers have the right to continue a lockout.

Harris told the board that the lockout doesn't impact essential services or put student safety at risk.

He says the 10 per cent clawback is significantly less than the calculation the union itself has made in determining the value of the work teachers have been doing.

The union, which will lay out its case this afternoon, is disputing the pay cut and other lockout provisions, which began Monday at the same time teachers across the province began rotating strikes.

The BC Teachers Federation has already announced that it would extend its rotating job action for four days next week.