VANCOUVER - Education Minister Peter Fassbender promised B.C. parents and students that all provincial exams would happen and that students would get their final marks, even if teachers go on a full-scale strike before the end of the year.
He said Thursday he doesn’t know how he will make that happen, but he said it would happen nonetheless. He said ministry staff are working out a plan.
The minister says he is "profoundly disappointed" by an announcement that the teachers' union is moving to hold a strike vote this coming Monday and Tuesday, as well as launch a third week of rotating walkouts.
Fassbender says the B.C. Teachers' Federation's reduced wage demand to about 12 per cent is still four times higher than what other public-sector unions have recently settled for.
The government's bargaining agent was at the table again today and Fassbender says they're willing to negotiate non-stop to reach a deal.
Teachers across the province could be on a full-scale strike within the next two weeks, their leader said Wednesday after the Labour Relations Board ruled a 10-per-cent pay cut would stand.
“Even before the LRB ruling, the BCTF executive ... decided last night that it’s time to ... exert the maximum pressure possible,†said Jim Iker, BCTF president, adding the teachers will vote on the full-scale strike on Monday and Tuesday. “The vote itself will apply pressure to both sides. There is still time for the government to act to prevent a full strike.â€
Fassbender said Wednesday he still wants a negotiated settlement by the end of June.
“A full strike is only going to keep more students out of their classrooms, create more disruption for parents, while teachers and support workers caught in the middle will lose even more in wages. There is no bottomless pit of money and the rotating strikes are certainly not going to help teachers’ and support workers’ pocketbooks,†Fassbender said in a statement. “We want this solved before the start of a next school year and BCPSEA is prepared to bargain 24/7, right through the summer.â€
The BCTF has to give three working days’ notice before escalating to a full-scale strike, Iker said, adding that rotating strikes will continue next week with the schedule announced tomorrow.
If a full-scale strike is implemented within two weeks, many secondary students will have finished their class time, but would be in the exam period. Elementary students attend classes until June 26, so could miss several days of school. The impact on final exams, final grades and report cards is unknown and ministry staff were unable to comment before deadline.
There is little or no precedent under provincial bargaining, which was implemented in 1994, for a full-scale strike at the end of the school year. In 2012, teachers were on strike for three days in March before a six-month cooling off period was implemented. Teachers had not written report cards during that school year, but during the cooling off period they did write year-end report cards. In 2005, teachers were on strike for 10 days, but that was in the fall, not at the end of the school year.
The Labour Relations Board on Wednesday dismissed the B.C. Teachers’ Federation’s application to declare the employer’s lockout and 10-per-cent wage cut illegal.
“ ... Subject to the designation of essential services, the Employer is free to engage in lockout activities including imposing new terms of employment in order to pressure the Union into reaching a new collective agreement,†LRB vice-chairman Richard Longpre wrote in his decision. “I do not accept the suggestion that once a designation has been issued by the Board and regardless of the scope of that designation, the parties must comply with the terms and conditions of the collective agreement until such time as either party applies to the Board to amend the order.â€
The teachers could still refer the measures to arbitration and all decisions of the LRB can be appealed within 15 days.
Teachers have been on rotating strikes since May 26, with several school districts closed each day. The partial lockout restricts teachers from working during recess or lunch hours, or from arriving at school any earlier than 45 minutes before classes start, or staying 45 minutes after they end, and includes the pay cut.
At issue are wages, class size, class composition and the number of specialist teachers. The employer is offering a 7.3-per-cent wage increase over six years. Teachers on Tuesday reduced their ask by one per cent, now calling for 12.75 over four years. The BCTF also says it moved on several other issues on Tuesday, including benefits, pay for teachers on call and preparation time.
Iker said the employer didn’t respond.
“We have all heard Peter Fassbender say class size doesn’t matter, but as all teachers and academic research can tell you, the minister is wrong,†Iker said. “And he refuses to acknowledge the growing concerns about class composition.â€
The employer already has a fair wage offer on the table that is in keeping with other settlements, said Michael Marchbank, British Columbia Public School Employers’ Association public administrator.
“We have less than four weeks for the BCTF to get into the settlement zone and hammer out an agreement so teachers can get the $1,200 signing bonus,†Marchbank said in a statement.
Iker said the teachers are “disappointed†with Longpre’s conclusion that the pay cut will stand and that the lockout and strike do not cause an immediate and serious disruption to the provision of educational programs so therefore do not violate essential services. Because the lockout doesn’t violate essential services, it is not the LRB’s role to address the pay cut, Longpre ruled.
“We will look at our legal options and make decisions in the coming days to deal with the LRB decision,†Iker said.
Longpre notes that BCPSEA said it is willing to arbitrate the amount of the pay cut, and says either BCTF or BCPSEA are free to submit the matter to arbitration.
Other groups with mandates tied to the public system were also weighing in as the dispute dragged to the end of the school year.
“The time for serious and concentrated bargaining is now,†said Teresa Rezansoff, president of the B.C. School Trustees Association, in a letter sent to trustees on the eve of the labour board decision. “We call on the BCTF and the government to redouble their efforts and negotiate all summer if necessary to end the current unrest.â€
The body representing parents was also calling for an immediate end to the rotating strikes and lockout action. Successful outcomes for all students — not just those graduating from Grade 12 — were being affected by the dispute, said Terry Berting, outgoing president of the BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils.
“(The confederation) wants government and the union to stop using pressure tactics that affect students and concentrate their energy on achieving a new collective agreement,†he said in a statement posted online after a weekend meeting with members. “It is time for both sides to take risks and negotiate in the true spirit of give and take.â€
With a file from The Canadian Press
Click here to read the Labour Relations Board ruling
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