A bill that would impose a new contract on British Columbia teachers passed its third and final reading Friday.  But, students will still be out of their classes Tuesday.

The bill imposes a two-year contract on the teachers with no pay increases.

Public school teachers walked off the job earlier in the day despite the threat of fines and possible jail time.

Some 42,000 teachers across the province began picketing early Friday in protest of the legislation.

In a late-night interim order Thursday, the B.C. Labour Relations Board issued a strong decision against the teachers, which said the walkout is illegal.

The union could be hit with steep fines and executive members could even be threatened with jail time.

The union plans to appeal the Board's ruling, calling it flawed. The British Columbia Teachers Federation has said schools will be closed again Tuesday while the Board's decision is appealed.

The British Columbia Public School Employers Association is attempting to get a special court hearing this weekend, in the hope of having a court declare the strike illegal.  A lawyer for the Association said it wants a B.C. Supreme Court judge to find the union in contempt of the Board ruling.

B.C. teachers have been subjected to imposed contracts four times since 1993.  They initiated job action last week by refusing to attend staff meetings or doing other administrative duties.

On Wednesday, the teachers voted 90.5 per cent in favour of setting up picket lines starting Friday to protest the legislation that freezes their wages until June 2006.

The teachers had demanded a 15 per cent wage increase over three years while the government offered zero as part of its public-sector wage policy.