|
|
[BC省新聞] Two sides not close to a deal in BC
Two sides not close to a deal in B.C. teachers’ dispute
Hopes for resolution by end of this week crushed
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/sides+close+deal+teachers+dispute/9901069/story.html#ixzz33aXg91fv
Top negotiators for both sides of the teachers’ dispute say a quick deal is unlikely, crushing hopes raised Monday after a B.C. Teachers’ Federation leader was reported saying a deal for teachers could be reached this week.
BCTF vice-president Glen Hansman was quoted saying it might be possible to “wrap this up” this week while speaking last weekend on a panel at the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Council’s annual general meeting. The comment was included on a BCCPAC blog, but BCTF president Jim Iker said a deal won’t happen if the government doesn’t have something new to offer.
“Glen (Hansman) is basically mirroring what I’ve been saying,” Iker said. “I’ve been optimistic. I have said many times that what we need is government to bring that funding and we could get that deal.”
But the employer’s chief negotiator Peter Cameron said the two sides are too far apart to expect a quick deal and he’s waiting for the teachers to reduce their wage demands.
“If I was to bet on an outcome by the end of the week, I’d be taking heavy odds,” Cameron said, adding he is more optimistic about reaching a deal by the end of June, but is prepared to bargain throughout the summer if necessary.
Teachers have been on rotating strikes since last week, closing all schools in the province for one day each week. The teachers’ employer has initiated a partial lockout and a pay cut for teachers who participate in the job action. The lockout restricts teachers from working during recess or lunch hours, or from arriving at school any earlier than 45 minutes before classes start, or staying 45 minutes after they end.
At issue are wages, class size, class composition and the number of specialist teachers. Iker said compromise is possible on wages, as long as both sides have something to give.
“We’re not close on class composition,” Iker said. “The government has not put $1 on the table to address class size and composition.” He said teachers want class composition language in the collective agreement to replace rules stripped from the teachers’ contract in 2002 that capped the number of special needs students to three in a classroom.
The B.C. Supreme Court has twice ruled that the removal violated teachers’ constitutional right of freedom of association.
The employer says fixed class size and special needs limits are not the best way to meet the needs of students, and has instead established the Learning Improvement Fund, which is not part of the teachers’ collective agreement, but provides money to address classroom concerns. The government says the LIF will increase to $75 million for the 2014-2015 school year.
Cameron said “there are some possibilities” for discussion in negotiations around class size and composition, but that negotiators are stuck on wages at this point.
The employer is offering a 7.3-per-cent wage increase over six years. Teachers want 13.7 per cent over four years. A one-per-cent increase in total teacher compensation (salary and benefits) costs about $30 million a year, the Ministry of Education says.
Meanwhile, the government is saving money while schools are closed during rotating strikes and during the hours that teachers are locked out.
Every day all the schools in the province are closed saves the government about $12 million, the Ministry of Education says. In addition, the 10-per-cent pay cut during the lockout saves $1.2 million per day, or $4.8 million for the four days each week that schools are open. CUPE support workers are also losing $4.5 million per week due to rotating strikes. Adding this all up, for last week, the government saved $21.3 million in wage costs.
government about $12 million, the Ministry of Education says.
A pair of Surrey students has set up a Facebook page encouraging students to walk out of school Wednesday at 9 a.m. — the only day this week that all schools will be open — to protest “being caught in the middle” of the teachers’ dispute. The Facebook page says 10,000 people have indicated they will attend the walkout. The plan calls for students to protest for the entire day. “The students in British Columbia have been put in the middle of the labour dispute between the BCTF and the government for our entire schooling,” the Facebook page says. “ ... Both sides need to get their act together and reach an agreement. This has been going on far too long ... and the students are the ones losing out.”
Rotating strikes will continue Tuesday, Thursday and Friday of this week. Bargaining sessions are scheduled for Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. The Labour Relations Board is expected to rule Wednesday on the legality of the government’s partial lockout and the 10-per-cent wage cut |
|
發表於 2014-6-3 06:56
| 
