VANCOUVER, British Columbia — Vancouver braced for a walkout by public employees Friday, but fears eased that private-sector unions would join the protest to support the province's 38,000 striking teachers.
The B.C. Federation of Labour put its planned protest on hold, citing efforts by Vince Ready, one of Canada 's most respected labor mediators, to end the walkout by teachers that has closed schools across British Columbia.
Ready was expected to issue non-binding recommendations to end the dispute, and federation president Jim Sinclair said his group wanted to give the teachers union time to consider the suggestions.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees plans to go ahead with its own protest in Vancouver in support of the teachers, who have remained off the job for nearly two weeks despite a court ruling that the strike is illegal.
While union officials said Vancouver's mass transit system would not be targeted in the dispute, transit officials still recommended bus riders look for alternatives.
CUPE protests shut down most city services in Kamloops and Kelowna Thursday. The B.C. Federation of Labour had also staged sympathy protests on Monday in Victoria and on Wednesday in southeast British Columbia, where six lumber mills were idled.
The 38,000-member B.C. Teachers' Federation walked out to protest against the province's imposition of a contract they had rejected, which extends a wage freeze until next summer and does not meet union demands to reduce class sizes.
The government said it imposed the contract because negotiations had failed. It has imposed similar contracts with wage freezes on other public-sector unions.
Ready's reputation for resolving difficult labor disputes could make it politically difficult for either side to ignore his recommendations, according to labor officials.
A judge was expected to decide Friday whether to levy fines for the teachers' refusal to return to work.
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