Local school trustees rejoiced along with parents and teachers across B.C. Tuesday morning with the news of a resolution to the months-long teachers strike.
The news parents and teachers have been hoping to hear was delivered at 4 a.m. Tuesday (Sept. 16) as mediator Vince Ready announced to waiting reporters that the B.C. Teachers Federation (BCFT) and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) reached a tentative agreement. Ready wouldn’t confirm that detail or any others as he announced the tentative agreement.
“I’m not at liberty to disclose any of the details, nor will the parties until they finalize them,” said Ready.
Later in the day, Premier Christy Clark and education minister Peter Fassbender revealed details at a news conference. The five-year deal will give teachers a raise of
7.25 per cent along with a signing bonus of $1,200.
“We’ll have five years to talk about the things that really matter and that’s improving education for children in classrooms,” said Clark.
A government fund with about $100 million in it will be distributed to BCTF members by the union to address class size and composition concerns. The province initially wanted the funds to be directed toward educational assistants, who aren’t BCTF members.
Teachers were scheduled to vote on the deal through Thursday with the school year expected to begin Monday if the teachers voted in favour of ratifying the collective agreement.
Trustees Laura Godfrey and Rick Price welcomed the news.
“I am very excited that the two sides were able to come together to make this work,” said Godfrey while board of education vice chair Andrea Beaubien was a conference call to learn details of the agreement. “I think a negotiated settlement is the way to go.”
According to Godfrey, the schools are ready to open on short notice.
“I’m hopeful that Monday will be the day that we’ll get back,” she said. “If parents are requiring certainty, please check our district website.”
News of the agreement spread quickly throughout the province and the world.
Board chair Rick Price wrote from abroad that he was thrilled to learn of the settlement.
“Assuming it is ratified, this is a major step forward in B.C. education,” said Price. “It was so important to have a negotiated agreement, and while I regret the disruption of schools, it will have been worth it if it brings improvement in services to students and more cooperative union and government relations.”
"This is wonderful news for the students, teachers, administrators, support staff, trustees and parents in BC," said Teresa Rezansoff, president of the B.C. School Trustees Association. "The immediate goal is to get students back in classes as quickly as possible. We must then focus on the critical work of strengthening our public education system and rebuilding trust."
The resolution of the dispute between the provincial government and the teachers came after more than 30,000 B.C. teachers’ backed their union’s call to drop pickets if the provincial government agrees to hand over the ongoing wage and class size dispute over to a third party and allow the dispute to move to binding arbitration.
A vote asking their members whether they would support ending the teachers’ strike if the government entered binding arbitration. The answer was a resounding “yes” with 99.4 per cent of teachers voting in favour.
“Classes could start this week. Children could be learning,” BCTF president Jim Iker told media at a press conference.
Last weekend, education minister Peter Fassbender let it be known he was not a “fan” of binding arbitration, stressing the drawbacks of handing the teachers’ dispute to a third party.
B.C. teachers have been without a contract for more than a year.
