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Teacher demands called ‘too high’ for mediation
■ S TRATEGIC E NGAGEMENT A GREEMENT
Two sides still far apart
Tom Fletcher Black Press The latest offer by the B.C. Teachers’ Federation to settle its strike has moved the union farther from the “zone of settlement” established by other public sector unions, Education Minister Peter Fassbender said Thursday. With a strike underway that could run until the end of the school year, Fassbender said neither mediation nor a legislated settlement is being considered. Peter Cameron, chief negotiator for the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association, said the latest union proposal would bring the compensation increase for teachers from 12.5% over five It’s years to 14.5%. unaffordable On wages and benefits alone, for taxpayers Cameron said that is more ~ Peter than twice the increase other Fassbender unions, including school suppor t staf f employees, have accepted. The BCTF added to its proposal of an 8% wage increase over five years this week with a proposed $225 million fund paid out over five years to settle thousands of grievances filed over the past decade. Those grievances sought to return class size caps and specialist teacher levels that were removed from the contract by legislation, and were ordered restored by a B.C. Supreme Court decision that is now under appeal. The union wants a second $225 million annual fund to fund ongoing class size and special needs support. “It is well into the $2 billion range,” Fassbender said of the union proposal. “It’s unaffordable for taxpayers.” BCTF president Jim Iker said the union’s
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Aboriginal Relations and Reconciliation Minister John Rustad and other guests are drummed in to Coqualeetza Longhouse for the Sto:lo Strategic Engagement Agreement celebration on Thursday. The three-year agreement with 14 Sto:lo First Nations builds on a 24-month pilot in which the First Nations and the province worked together to implement a framework to improve consultation and engagement on land and resource matters. The B.C. government is providing a total of $2.1 million over the life of the agreement, which encompasses Sto:lo territory. JENNA HAUCK/ PROGRESS
Pickets keep two trustees from meeting Katie Bartel The Progress Two Chilliwack school trustees showed their political stripes Tuesday night. Trustees Dan Coulter and Barry Neufeld refused to cross the picket line at the school board office Tuesday evening, even though it meant not participating in the scheduled public board meeting. “In the election, I said I wouldn’t cross picket lines,” said Coulter. Not surprising. Coulter, a former welder and millwright, before being
paralyzed in a workplace accident, was president of the Chilliwack-Hope BC NDP constituency association before winning last fall’s school trustee byelection. Instead of sitting around the board table, Coulter and Neufeld spent the duration of the meeting talking with picketing teachers and sitting in Coulter’s truck. Not crossing the line was “out of respect for collective bargaining and unions and what they do and represent,” said Coulter. “I think it’s important because locally it’s different
then the provincial government negotiating with the BCTF. Locally, when it’s all over, we all live in the same community and we see each others faces, and we’ve got to go back to a positive working relationship when this is all over.” The majority of his colleagues, however, disagreed. Trustees Doug Mckay, Heather Maahs, Walt Krahn, Martha Wiens and Silvia Dyck crossed the picket line and participated in the meeting. For board chair Walt Krahn, passing agenda items trumped taking a stand.
“The important business of the day needed to carry on,” said Krahn. Of the agenda items, the board approved the budget and achievement contract, both of which were required to be submitted to the Ministry of Education by the end of June. “I certainly respect the process of negotiations, I fully understand the issues of funding, but in our case, we needed to carry on,” said Krahn. “Our entire community, including members of the community, students and teachers, need to have a budget in place for Continued: TRUSTEES/ p4
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