GOVERNMENT’S 10-YEAR BARGAINING FRAMEWORK PROPOSAL Is it a good deal for teachers and public...

GOVERNMENT’S 10-YEAR BARGAINING FRAMEWORK PROPOSAL

Is it a good deal for teachers and public education?

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• BC has worst student-educator ratio in the country (Stats Canada)

• To bring teacher staffing levels to national average, an astounding 6600 teachers needed!

• Past 12 years of underfunding has taken a toll• Per student funding in BC is $1000 below

national average. Surrey would receive an additional $70,000,000 per year.

BC Teachers' Federation: Overview of Government White Paper —Framework For 10-Year Agreement

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Stats and facts:

It is time…

for government to reinvest in teachers and public education for the social and economic well-being of our province.

for government to refrain from interfering in bargaining and to provide BCPSEA with resources to obtain a negotiated settlement.


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Current context

Bargaining table – bargaining objectives

set provincially and locally

– Agreement in Committee “AIC”

– at table since early February

– local bargaining occurring around the province

– Provincial bargaining continues

Outside of bargaining– Clark announced 10

year scheme– Liberals re-elected to a

majority government– government alters

BCPSEA’s bargaining objectives midstream

– New cabinet– Summer session of

legislature called


4

“AIC” between BCTF and BCPSEA

BC Teachers' Federation: Overview of Government White Paper —Framework For 10-Year Agreement 5

• Moved some items to local tables, like post and fill and transfer

• Agreed to work with a facilitator, Mark Brown

• Agreed to a process for costing proposals

• Agreed not to publish bargaining proposals publicly and restrict media coverage of bargaining

• If no agreement by expiration of agreement (June 30), facilitator will issue a report with overview and recommendations

What are they proposing?

BC Teachers' Federation: Overview of Government White Paper—Framework For 10-Year Agreement 6

They say:A 10 year contract

What it means:•10 years of silence from teachers •A frozen collective agreement•No opportunity to improve salary, benefits, prep time, or any other conditions of work•No opportunity to respond to change

…



They say: •Teachers will be given a seat on the Education Policy Council (EPC) - representatives from government, the BCTF and boards of education trustees to advise government on public education policy priorities, including allocation of the PEIF

What it means:•A committee to provide advice on policy and spending•Merely an advisory committee, not binding•Items like class size and composition will not be part of collective bargaining process; they are seen as policy matters instead, despite supreme court ruling



They say:•We will create a government fund (“PEIF”) to address “education priorities”•Yr 1 $0, Yr 2 $0, Yr 3 $100 million, Yrs 4-10 TBD

What it means:•Removes class size, composition and ratios as a collective bargaining matter•No guarantee of funding from year to year•Similar to Learning Improvement Fund•Spending priorities set by government with advice from ‘Education Policy Council’•Won’t resolve current underfunding of public schools, loss of $275 million per year for last decade



They want:•A new bargaining process and dispute resolution mechanism

What it means:•Very limited bargaining, once per decade•Mandatory conciliation with government appointed “mediator”•Legislation to remove full right to strike and replace it with a restrictive all-or-nothing strike option•Strike votes in the summer•Will lead to more conflict, not less



They want:•Indexing of teachers’ compensation to an average of other major public sector increases

What it means:•Teachers prohibited from bargaining their own salaries•Compensation determined by government based on AVERAGE of SELECT public sector unions•Average of zero is zero•Contracts may be imposed on other public sector unions under restrictive mandates•Doesn’t permit BC teachers to catch up to teachers in other provinces in Canada

“A bold, respectful & responsible solution”?


The premier’s plan is another effort to severely limit teachers’ constitutional right to bargain and to intrude into the negotiation process yet again.

A negotiated outcome can only be reached through a fair process with sufficient resources at the bargaining table.

Labour peace is achieved through genuine collective bargaining, not imposed legislation.

What should our next steps be?


1. What types of decisions should the Federation make before the end of June?

2. What can we predict will be the decisions the Federation will have to make in August (at either the EC or a special RA at Summer Conference)—given that we don't know the nature of probable legislation, but we can speculate on the range of options the Liberals have, given the nature of the White Paper?

3. How will such decisions be communicated to members before the start of school in September?

Upcoming meetings


• BCTF Presidents’ meeting scheduled for June 24

• BCTF Executive meeting scheduled for June 25

• Emergency Rep Assembly may be called in August if needed


• Questions?

• Comments?

• For more information, visit the BCTF member portal:

https://www.bctf.ca/myBCTF/content.aspx?id=23112

GOVERNMENT’S 10-YEAR BARGAINING FRAMEWORK PROPOSAL Is it a good deal for teachers and public...

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