The local teachers union was at the school district office before daybreak on Valentine's Day morning delivering 400 heart-shaped messages to staff.

When senior staff arrived, they were greeted by pink, red, and purple hearts all bearing a handwritten message from a teacher about improvements they'd like to see in their classrooms, strung up on the trees outside of the Brown Avenue offices

There were three over-arching themes in the messages from teachers, said Susan Croll, first vice-president of the Maple Ridge Teachers' Association.

First, they want better and more support for students with special needs; secondly, teachers want respect from the provincial government and for their profession; and thirdly, they want a fairly negotiated collective agreement.

Croll and MRTA president George Serra were out putting up the messages early Tuesday, and they want local education senior staff to relay how local teachers feel about the current stalled negotiations.

"I would really like [district staff] to send a message to George Abbott and Christy Clark... to direct BCPSEA to come back to the table and sit down and seriously negotiate," Croll said.

The BC Teachers' Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers Association started negotiating almost a year ago, and teachers have been working without a contract since September.

They are in phase one of job action, which includes refusing to meet with principals and write report cards.

Serra said the impetus to put up the Valentine's hearts was "to make sure the [school] district knows Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows teachers aren't in any better position."

The provincial government recently appointed a fact finder from the Ministry of Labour to investigate what is happening in the labour dispute.

Serra said he would have preferred someone neutral to investigate the situation, from example, a Labour Relations Board mediator.

"We'll participate - we have no choice," Serra said.

He is worried that because contract talks have been stalled for so long, the teachers will see a contract imposed on them.

"Any legislation will set us back years," he said, adding that a legislated contract won't have "buy-in" from teachers.

Imposing a contract on teachers will lead to a lot of "bitterness and acrimony," Croll said.

The hearts were taken down by the early evening, but Serra said they might get delivered elsewhere later.

mrantanen@mrtimes.com