Update #1 on Fri Oct 19th at 3:52pm - Kamloops Regional Director for the BC Conservatives' Alan Forseth speaks to this item here
Earlier this week - BC Premier Christy Clark floated an idea of a ten (10) year teacher contract with the BC Teachers' Federation. History does show that provincial government intervention also occurs with the exception of 2006 but it's still something worth pursuing
From the Government of BC:
Today Premier Christy Clark announced a review of the teacher bargaining process that will see government engage with the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) and other education stakeholders on how best to make systemic improvements prior to the next round of bargaining.
“As we settle into a new school year, a key goal for government is to create a more stable learning environment for B.C.’s students and their families” said Premier Clark. “Imagine being able to negotiate a ten-year deal. Imagine a child starting Grade 2 this year moving through to graduation without ever having to experience labour unrest again. Can it be done? I don’t know. Is it worth trying? Absolutely. We need to put our preconceptions aside, we need to put the past behind us, and we need to be flexible and work with teachers to achieve long-term labour peace.”
Clark added that in no other sector does bargaining so consistently generate stress, strikes and disruption. “For the sake of teachers, students, parents, administrators, school staff and school trustees, we must come together in a collaborative process to bring about labour stability. That will require compromise on all sides.”
Education Minister Don McRae and ministry staff will consult with key education stakeholder organizations on how the model for teachers’ collective bargaining can be improved. Consultations will occur through October and early November and are expected to include school trustees, school administrators and parent groups.
Feedback from these consultations will inform policy or legislative changes to be implemented before bargaining starts next spring.
“We will be canvassing all the issues in the teacher bargaining system with the goal of bringing about long-term labour stability,” said McRae. “We need to move quickly to ensure that when negotiations resume early next year, they start on the best possible footing.”
Consultations will cover everything related to the teachers’ collective bargaining structure and process. The Ministry of Education will work in conjunction with the Public Sector Employers’ Council (PSEC) secretariat and will consider those recommendations identified in previous third-party reports to government.
Over the last few weeks, our government has reached tentative agreements across the public sector without any major disruptions in services to British Columbians.
Read Jon Ferry's (Vancouver Province columnist) take on this here
SD #71 (Kamloops-Thompson) Board Chair Denise Harper and Kamloops-Thompson Teachers' Association head Jason Karpuk express misgivings about the proposal from Premier Clark here
Finally - Global BC has the story below:
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