Students in Greater Victoria could be back in classrooms as early as Monday if public school teachers ratify a tentative deal to end a strike that began in June.
“We couldn’t be happier,” said Kevin Elder, superintendent of the Saanich school district. “We have a number of steps yet to see followed but I’m optimistic we’ll see ratification on both sides and we’ll be back in school soon.”
The B.C. Teachers’ Federation announced the tentative deal in a message posted to Twitter at 3:50 a.m. Tuesday after a bargaining marathon that started late last week. Teachers will vote on the deal Thursday. The union executive is recommending that teachers accept the deal.
If the agreement is ratified, staff could be in schools Friday, preparing to allow classes to resume Monday, Elder said.
Education Minister Peter Fassbender said school districts are considering ways to make up the time lost. Students will have lost 27 days of school between two school years if schools reopen on Monday. The strike began on June 17.
Fassbender said a plan would be announced as soon as the vote is finalized and that all students’ years would be “kept whole.”
“The tentative agreement will provide new support for students, ensure there are more specialist and classroom teachers in schools working with children, and protect teachers’ constitutional rights as the court case continues,” said Jim Iker, president of the BCTF.
Iker said teachers were to get details of the tentative deal Tuesday night, but information won’t be released publicly until after the ratification vote Thursday. If teachers vote in favour of the deal, schools will be open “sometime next week,” he said.
Paul Waterlander, vice-president of the Sooke Teachers’ Association, said while he hasn’t seen the contract, he’s hopeful that there will be improvements to class size and composition. He wants to see teachers and learning assistants hired back as soon as possible to provide one-on-one teaching to students with special needs.
Every teacher he has spoken with is relieved that a deal was reached, Waterlander said. “It was getting really gruesome thinking we’d be going into October.”
Waterlander said this is the worst strike he’s experienced in his 25 years as a teacher, but added that “teachers are conciliatory … we will heal.”
He said teachers will likely be scrambling to get ready for next week. “I can see lots of teachers coming in on the weekend to prep.”
The Vancouver Sun is reporting that teachers will get a wage increase of 7.25 per cent as part of the six-year deal, which is a split between the government’s previous offer of seven per cent and the union’s call for eight per cent.
Premier Christy Clark said the tentative deal is “fantastic news” and she thanked parents and students for their patience, which she said allowed the two sides the time to reach the “historic six-year agreement.” The deal is retroactive to last year.
“This means five years of labour peace before us,” Clark said. “That is five years in which we can talk about the things that really matter. … It’s a real game changer for education.”
Mediator Vince Ready guided the BCTF negotiating team, led by Iker, and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association’s team, led by Peter Cameron, to a deal.
A $108-million one-time payment from the government to the BCTF to address retroactive grievances appears to be part of the deal. The government has indicated the BCTF can use the money however it wishes, including offering a signing bonus to teachers.
As well, the government has allocated $480 million over the course of the deal to hire new teachers. That money is believed to be part of what the government used to call its $75-million annual Learning Improvement Fund. About $400 million of the fund is earmarked for the BCTF, with $80 million allocated to fund support-staff hires.
The government took its contentious E80 clause off the table, according to the BCTF. That clause outlined the government’s class-size and composition language. The BCTF objected to the clause, fearing the language would take away class size and composition rights the union had won through two court rulings.
The deal is believed to include a clause where either side can reopen the part of the contract on class size and composition after future court rulings. If negotiation doesn’t work, it then goes to arbitration.
Iker said the union made no concessions.
Clark would not say how much the deal will cost, but said the government will pay for it without raising taxes, going into deficit, taking on more debt or cutting services. “It is within our fiscal plan,” Clark said.
— With The Canadian Press
