BCTF
BCTF report on discussions with facilitator, Vince Ready
The Globe and Mail
Mediator to release recommendations this afternoon
The mediator in the B.C. teachers strike will issue a series of non-binding recommendations Thursday afternoon, saying the situation has hit a “stalemate.”Report on the discussions with facilitator, Vince Ready
BACKGROUND
On Monday night Vince Ready called the BCTF to say that he’d been appointed as a facilitator to promote discussions that could lead to a resolution of the dispute.
The Full-Time Table Officers, supported by staff, met with Vince Ready four times over Tuesday and Wednesday.
PUBLIC GOVERNMENT RESPONSES
Said they would not meet with teachers while we are on the protest lines.
Would not admit that they were one of the parties working with Vince Ready.
Premier and Minister of Labour spoke about changes to the School Act to make improvements.
Acknowledged need to address class size and class composition.
Reiterated that the round table on learning was the venue for learning conditions discussions.
GOVERNMENT POSITION IN THE DISCUSSIONS WITH READY
No wage increase in a two-year agreement.
No to a third year in this agreement.
No to other forms of compensation, including benefit improvements and payment of Salary Indemnity Plan fee, although this is paid for most other public-sector workers.
No contract language on learning conditions.
Nothing that could be seen as rewarding teachers.
BCTF POSITION IN DISCUSSION WITH READY TO DATE
Zero/zero mandate should not apply to teachers because teachers have paid a high price through the contract stripping in 2002.
Were prepared to take 0% in the first year on salary, and work at other forms of compensation on the understanding that there would be a salary increase in the second and third years.
Needed to see improvements for teachers on call.
Must have class-size limits and class composition guarantees that are grievable.
BCTF PROPOSAL FOR RESOLUTION
BCTF representatives will be bringing the following elements for resolution into the discussion with Vince Ready today:
1. Amendments to the School Act to include:
– class-size limits for Grades 4-12 and limits for classes that have safety and exceptional learning issues, including the successful integration of students with special needs.
– staffing ratios for specialist teachers, such as teacher-librarians, counsellors, and learning assistance teachers.
2. Funding and a process for support for students with special needs that will:
– involve the school-based team (professionals working with the student’s parent).
– protect the confidentiality of the student.
3. a three-year agreement that provides stability to the system and allows time for relationships to improve.
4. salary and benefits improvements in years two and three of the agreement.
TEACHERS COMMITMENT AND DETERMINATION
These elements reflect teachers continued willingness to reach a resolution. We are determined to make improvements for students and for teachers, but we are also problem-solvers. We call on the government to work through the Ready process in the same spirit of co-operation. This is not the time for threats, inflexibility, or posturing.
Teachers are tremendously encouraged by public support. We thank the many, many parents and concerned community members who have expressed their support. We call on them once again to encourage government to acknowledge the best intention of teachers and needs that must be met in our public schools.
We are also heartened by the fact that over 40 school boards have called on the government to either repeal Bill 12, negotiate a settlement, and/or repeal Bill 12.
Teachers remain incredibly strong and determined to make improvements for students and to achieve a fair settlement for teachers. Our goal remains a settlement that meets the needs of students and teachers in this province.
For more information on the specific language being proposed by the Federation, contact your local office.
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B.C. mediator to release proposals in strike
By TERRY WEBER AND ROD MICKLEBURGH
Thursday, October 20, 2005 Posted at 1:37 PM EDT
Globe and Mail Update
The mediator in the B.C. teachers strike will issue a series of non-binding recommendations Thursday afternoon, saying the situation has hit a “stalemate.”
Mediator Vince Ready made the announcement after the teachers took the unusual step of publicly releasing their own proposals aimed at bringing the dispute to an end.
The teachers’ proposals dealt with issues of class size and staffing ratios. They also proposed a three-year agreement with no wage increase in the first year but a “reasonable” improvement in pay and benefits in the second and third.
B.C.’s 38,000 teachers have been on the picket line in what the province’s labour relations board has ruled an illegal strike since Oct. 7. About 600,000 public school students have been affected by the labour dispute.
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Mr. Ready did not say specifically when the recommendations would be delivered to the two sides, but he suggested that both should have the new proposals by some time Thursday afternoon.
Earlier Thursday, the B.C. Teachers Federation said they were releasing their own proposals as a means of offering “a more creative problem-solving approach” to the dispute.
“We want to inform teachers, parents, and students of the BCTF’s willingness to seek common ground and find solutions that will work for teachers and students in our schools,” federation president Jinny Sims said.
Under those proposals, classroom size limits would be imposed for Grades 4 through 12 and for classes with “safety and exceptional learning issues.”
The union also called for staffing ratios that would be applied to specialist teachers, such as teacher-librarians and counsellors.
The teachers’ federation did not offer specific numbers on how classes would be limited or what ratios they would consider acceptable.
The union also said a three-year contract would provide stability to the system and allow time for “relationships to improve.” The union said it wants “reasonable improvements” in salary and benefits in the second and third year of the agreement.
“These elements reflect teachers’ continued willingness to reach a resolution,” Ms. Sims said.
The latest developments came as the province braced for another massive labour demonstration on Friday.
The Canadian Union of Public Employees has called for a rally of its members in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley regions of British Columbia. Labour groups around the province have been staging rallies and protests in other areas throughout the week.
On Thursday, CUPE workers were scheduled to stage rallies in Vernon, Penticton, Kelowna and Kamloops.
A spokeswoman for the union said Friday’s rally in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley regions is still scheduled, although the union is keeping a close eye on the state of talks in the dispute.
“Certainly if there’s movement and the signals from the labour movement are stand down, then we would definitely do that,” spokeswoman Roseanne Moran told globeandmail.com.
CUPE represents about 40,000 workers in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley region, although the union has said workers in “necessary services” and transit workers would remain on the job.
Also on Friday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown is scheduled to decide on whether further financial penalties should be imposed after the teachers’ union failed to follow a court ruling ordering them back to the classroom.
Judge Brown has already frozen the federation’s assets, effectively preventing it from funding the job action or paying teachers $50-a-day in strike pay.
The B.C. Public School Employers Association has asked the judge to impose fines in addition to that order.
Almost immediately after the teachers walked out, the B.C. Labour Relations Board deemed the action illegal and ordered the teachers back to work. That decision was later upheld in court.
The teachers remained off the job, however, calling the action a political protest against the provincial government’s decision to pass legislation imposing a two-year contract.
The legislation offers no pay increase for teachers and doesn’t let them negotiate on issues like class size and composition.
The provincial government has repeatedly called on the striking teachers to go back to work and said it will not negotiate directly with them until they abide by the court order directing them back to class. A special prosecutor has also been appointed by the provincial criminal justice branch to look at whether criminal contempt charges should be brought against the teachers’ union.
“We do not get to obey the laws that we like and disobey the laws that we don’t like, and that is the central issue here,” B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said in a televised address on Monday.
“This is not a labour dispute, as this illegal action has been characterized by some unions.”
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