following six years of labour peace, teachers are back at the bargaining table with the province in an attempt to hammer out a new contract.
"The teachers are in mediation with the B.C. Public School Employers' Association, which is the bargaining agent for the ministry, and we're hoping that there will be a resolve through that process," said April Lowe, president of the Sea to Sky Teachers Association.
"There are dates set all through March for the two sides to sit together and try to reach an agreement."
That fact alone is a good sign, Lowe added.
"We feel encouraged. We feel hopeful," she said.
In January, an email to teachers from BC Teachers' Federation (BCTF) president Teri Mooring outlined potential job action should mediation fail.
The plan, approved by a group of teacher leaders, outlined four stages of job action: continued pressure on the government through communications; a withdrawal of administrative duties, like attending staff meetings, and a ban on specialist teachers (like librarians) covering absences; rotating strikes, organized by each district; and a province-wide strike.
"We're still in phase one," Lowe said.
"BCTF always has a plan of action, so the fact that we have a plan doesn't mean that we necessarily are moving past stage one. We will only enact the plan should it become necessary."
With talks scheduled through March, Lowe couldn't say when or if the job action will move into stage two.
As in past negotiations, the two major sticking points are related to salaries and class size and composition.
"The school boards remain very committed to getting a fully negotiated settlement, that protects teacher workload while also optimizing student learning conditions," said Stephanie Higginson, president of the British Columbia School Trustees Association.
"We're committed to getting a fully negotiated settlement, and without any interruptions to student services."
In November, teachers rejected the mediator's recommendation of a two-per-cent wage increase in each of the next three years with a rollover of the rest of the contract, including class size, composition, and specialist teacher ratios.
Though a Supreme Court ruling in 2016 restored language around class size and composition in teacher contracts, that language—dating back to the late '80s and early '90s—is in need of an update, Higginson said.
"I think that the intention of the language is good, but what we're trying to do is modernize it to reflect the needs of today's classrooms, because what we're finding is it's kind of become more of an archeological exercise to determine what was the original intention of this language, as opposed to, how do we create modern and robust learning and working conditions," she said.
"What we're trying to do is modernize that language to reflect the students that we serve today."
Making changes to collective agreements is difficult, Higginson said, adding that she can understand why teachers are "nervous to change anything, because they spent 15 years fighting this all the way to the Supreme Court," but the proposed changes don't result in any job losses.
"They result in making changes to the way that it's done, and we get that it's tricky for folks," she said.
"So we're just trying to find our way forward, and I think that's really where there are some sticking points."
As for wages, the provincial government's mandate for wage increases is 2 per cent annually for three years for public sector employee groups. If one group negotiates a settlement beyond that, it triggers a "me too" clause, which applies the increase to all public sector employees.
"My understanding ... is that they would like more than that, and we are willing to work with them at the table within the current education budget, to do that," Higginson said.
"There are other unions that have found other ways within their existing budget to get their members pay increases, beyond the 2, 2 and 2, but it has to come within the budget ... we really need to be able to get there to have those conversations."
With the current contract expired as of June 30, 2019, is there any angst amongst Sea to Sky teachers to get a deal done?
"No, I think everybody is feeling pretty good going into the break," Lowe said.
"We feel optimistic, so it's a nice way to enter March break."
