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Teachers ratify deal

Students head back to class Monday
Chris Bolster

Public school teachers around the province voted to end their strike and approve a deal struck between their union and the provincial government.

Approximately three-quarters of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation 41,000 members cast a vote Thursday, September 18.

British Columbia Teachers’ Federation president Jim Iker presented the vote results just after 9:30 pm that night.

Eighty-six per cent of teachers, 27,275 votes, said they would approve the deal.

School District 47 schools will open for students Monday, September 22, with regular bus service.

School will be in session from 9 to 10 am at James Thomson Elementary and Westview Elementary schools, at Henderson Elementary School from 8:53 to 10 am, Edgehill Elementary School from 8:55 to 10:15 am, at Kelly Creek Community School from 8:30 to 9:30 am and at Texada Elementary School from 8:34 to 10 am. École Côte du Soleil will be in session from 8:45 to 10:30 am.

Brooks Secondary School will be in session from 9 to 10 am for students in grades nine through 12. Grade eight students will stay until 11:15 am for added school orientation.

Full-day instruction will resume on Tuesday, September 23.


Teachers vote

BC public school teachers voted Thursday to ratify the tentative agreement that their union and the government reached this week.

British Columbia Teachers’ Federation president Jim Iker provided some details included in the agreement in a press conference held in the afternoon of Tuesday, September 16.

The six-year deal provides teachers with a 7.25 per cent salary increase and some improvements to health and dental benefits.

Class size and composition were removed from the contract and replaced by a mutually agreed upon process for dealing with those issues.

A $105-million grievance fund will be set up to pay for union issues arising from the ongoing court case looking at teachers’ rights to negotiate class size and composition ratios.

Non-teaching preparation time for elementary teachers will increase to 100 minutes per week.

A $400-million education fund, for the creation of new teaching positions, is also included.

If ratified, it is expected that school will begin Monday morning.


Marathon talks produce tentative deal

Board chair raises concerns on co-governance model

A tentative agreement has been reached between the British Columbia Teachers’ Union (BCTF) and the provincial government.

The deal comes after an intense weekend of talks between BCTF president Jim Iker, British Columbia Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) negotiator Peter Cameron, their respective bargaining teams and mediator Vince Ready.

A press release received late Tuesday afternoon from Richard Overgaard, communications department of BCTF, disclosed an overview of the discussions and Iker's response (see email appended below).

The agreement was reached after a 16-hour marathon bargaining session.

Vince Ready spoke to reporters at the Richmond hotel, where bargaining was happening, just after 4 am Tuesday, September 16.

“After all these hours, I am pleased to announce that the parties have reached a tentative agreement,” he said. “I’m not at liberty to announce any details, nor are the parties.”

Ready said that they would meet again later in the day to finalize some outstanding details.

Neither Iker nor Cameron released a public statement on the deal Tuesday morning. Education minister Peter Fassbender said he would not comment on the tentative deal until final language has been settled.

The weekend’s bargaining came after the teachers voted overwhelmingly last week in favour of returning to work if binding arbitration was implemented. This was a move that Fassbender said the provincial government would not agree to citing financial risk. The last time binding arbitration was used, to bring the doctor’s labour dispute to a resolution, the government raised provincial sales tax by half a percentage point to pay for the settlement. Despite this, it appeared last week that the government was becoming more willing to negotiate on its contentious class size and composition clause.

Teachers will vote on the agreement on Thursday, September 18, and if it is accepted Powell River public school students could be back in class next week.

School District 47 students have lost more than a dozen days of school this month already as well as two weeks of classes last June.

One thing this contract dispute has highlighted is how little influence locally elected school boards have on the course of negotiations.

Powell River board of education chair Jeanette Scott wrote an open letter earlier in the month to the community expressing the board’s concerns over the labour dispute and explaining the situation school boards find themselves in.

Scott said the board has always endeavoured to provide high quality learning for its students and support for its professional staff through good working conditions and professional development, but decreased funding over the years has made this increasingly challenging.

“Difficult decisions have had to be made, some of which have challenged us to find new ways to maintain the standards to which we are committed,” she said. “We have regularly expressed our concerns about the need for adequate funding for public education to the ministry of education by direct communication as well as through the British Columbia School Trustees’ Association [BCSTA].”

Despite these challenges, Scott added, the school district has continued to provide a wide variety of learning opportunities for its students.

This task has become increasingly difficult, though, as local school boards’ ability to determine what is best locally has been eroded and public funding has been channelled to independent schools, she said.

“Bargaining has also been removed from local control and, while there remain two school trustees who sit at the table when bargaining is taking place between the BCTF and the BCPSEA, they represent us in voice only,” Scott said. The board believes it is time to acknowledge that BCPSEA is “not properly representative of school trustees throughout the province.”


Press Release from BCTF

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE   September 16, 2014

BC teachers reach tentative agreement

This morning, after several days of intensive negotiations, representatives of the BC Teachers’ Federation signed an agreement-in-committee with the BC Public School Employers’ Association. The BCTF Executive Committee is recommending ratification. Teachers will vote on the agreement-in-committee on Thursday, September 18, 2014.

“The tentative agreement will provide new support for students, ensure there are more specialist and classroom teachers in schools working with children, and protect teachers’ constitutional rights as the court case continues,” said BCTF President Jim Iker.

“Thanks to the courageous stand teachers took on the picket lines and the strong support of parents and other unions, BC teachers were able to get new money invested in schools and reach a mutually agreed-to process to deal with any future court decision on class size, class composition,  and staffing levels.”

Iker outlined that the BCTF Executive Committee is recommending a “yes” vote on Thursday based on several key achievements for teachers and students in the tentative agreement:

  • Several hundred new teaching positions each year as a result of an annual education fund that will be used exclusively for bargaining unit members.
  • A mutually agreed-to process to address any future Court decision as well as the removal of the contentious Article E.80.
  • A significant grievance remedy fund that will be used as a one-time payment to members and will provide improvements in elementary preparation time.
  • Improvements in salary and extended health benefits.
  • Fair pay for teachers teaching on call for every day they work.
  • There are no concessions.

In announcing the Executive Committee’s recommendation, Iker thanked BC teachers for their commitment, persistence, and courage over the last few months. He also thanked the BC Federation of Labour, the Canadian Labour Congress, other unions from BC and across Canada, the Canadian Teachers’ Federation, as well as teacher unions— especially those in Ontario, parents, community groups, and concerned citizens for supporting and standing in solidarity with teachers.

“BC’s teachers are proud of the stand we took for fairness and improved learning conditions and we were heartened every step of the way by the steady waves of public support,” said Iker.

Rich Overgaard, Assistant Director, Communications and Campaigns Division

BC Teachers' Federation