Prince George Teachers Association president Matt Pearce thinks the province is gearing up to announce a legislated end to the five-month provincial teachers strike.
He might be right.
"We've heard weekly from the minister [George Abbott] that they're going to legislate and we think that's interfering with
bargaining," said Pearce.
"We think from the very beginning, 10 months long now, that bargaining has been undercut by the government deliberately sending that message in the media. That has led to zero bargaining."
Abbott did not deny a forced settlement could be in the works, but said he'd much prefer a negotiated end to the strike.
"The government has not made any decision yet with respect to ending the job action with a
legislated solution," said Abbott.
"I certainly think that is a possibility, given the lack of progress we have seen in almost a year of bargaining.
"We still have modest hope the parties will be able to reach agreement, but I'm not at all optimistic, based on the B.C. Teachers Federation (BCTF) refusal to accept the validity of the net-zero mandate."
Last week, teachers asked for a 15 per cent wage increase spread over three years.
The proposal includes three per cent cost of living increases in each of the three years plus market adjustments of three per cent in the second and third years of the
contract.
The BCTF also wants more
preparation time for teachers.
BCTF president Susan Lambert has said the net-zero policy amounts to a pay cut. She said salaries of B.C. teachers are $20,000 less than what Alberta teachers earn and $15,000 lower than in Ontario.
The BCTF initially figured the cost of such a deal would be about $300 million, but has since upped the estimated cost of the proposed pay package to $565 million. However, the B.C. Public School Employers' Association stated that estimate does not factor in the cumulative effect of wage increases in the second and third years. BCPSEA has pegged the cost of the proposed wage increase costs at $1.3 billion, without the added costs of benefits or other contract incentives.
"Benefits, etcetera, take the package up well over $2 billion," Abbott said.
"British Columbia is in a little better shape than many jurisdictions in the Western world but we are still struggling with issues around deficit and economic confidence and I think the last thing we would want to do is add $2 billion to the deficit of the province."
Pearce said if the teachers are legislated into a new contract, it would fly in the face of a B.C. Supreme Court ruling in April, which determined the province acted unconstitutionally in 2002 when it removed language from the teachers contract relating to class size and composition and
replaced that with legislation.
"Why legislate when there has been very low levels of disruption to the system - that's a question the government will have to answer if they're going to pass legislation and force a contract," said Pearce.
Although teachers are trying to keep the disruption to students at a minimum, the strike has had several consequences. There have been no formal report cards sent home to parents; teachers are not taking part in meetings with school staff or administration; and principals and other non-union school district staff are having to fill in for elementary school teachers during lunch hours and after school to provide
supervision.
"I know that some teachers have worked with parents to inform them of how the students are doing, but we also know there are many examples where those reports on student progress have not occurred," said Abbott. "I don't want to see us go a full school year without proper reporting to parents of how their kids are doing.
"There is a price paid when we don't have collaborative meetings between teachers, principals, vice-principals and superintendents. Our good school system is built on collaboration and without it, students suffer. In some cases, I believe some students are suffering, particularly those who may have special needs challenges."
Bargaining resumed Tuesday in Vancouver and the stalemate continued. Abbott admits there has been very little progress made in the 10 months of negotiating and knows parents and teachers are getting frustrated and want the job action to end.
Until there is a new deal, he says the province will have its hands tied trying to implement its 21st Century learning model B.C.
Education Plan.
