The B.C. Teachers Federation has rejected Dr. Charles Jago as
mediator in the provincial public school
teachers' labour dispute "due to a clear
apprehension of bias and a flawed
process."
BCTF president Susan Lambert applied Thursday to the B.C. Labour Relations Board seeking to have the appointment of Jago as mediator declared invalid.
Lambert said Jago has demonstrated bias in favour of the government in consultations with the education ministry before he was appointed as mediator last week.
In 2006, Jago contributed to a report on public education that Lambert said was used by the B.C. Public School Employers' Association to help formulate its policy positions on issues of seniority, the right of teachers to make professional development choices, and the removal of unsatisfactory teachers from classrooms.
Lambert claims there were factual errors that contributed to those conclusions, which were later adopted in Bill 22.
"Obviously there is a strong linkage between Dr. Jago's thinking and the bargaining and policy objectives of this government," Lambert said. "Clearly there is a reasonable apprehension of bias here. What faith can teachers put in this mock mediation process, which is already so fundamentally skewed against us?
Lambert said Jago agreed to take on the role as mediator in early February, well before Education Minister George Abbott asked the BCTF to produce a list of its choices of potential mediators.
The teachers had wanted either B.C. Supreme Court judges Stephen Kelleher or Ian Donald to mediate, but neither was made available by the justice ministry. The BCTF also learned Jago was given an opportunity in early February to review Bill 22 before it was tabled for discussion in the Legislature. Reached at his home in Prince George Thursday morning, Jago declined comment.
"I gave press conferences last week and I said that I wouldn't be talking again until the end of the assignment," Jago said.
Lambert sent a letter to Jago on Tuesday asking him to withdraw as mediator, citing his lack of mediation experience and the perception of bias, but Jago declined and said he did not have time to respond to all of the issues raised.
