Teachers will begin picketing summer school sites if a deal is not reached by June 30, the president of the BC Teachers’ Federation said June 25.
“It’s a decision we didn’t take lightly,” Jim Iker said at a press conference.
The BC Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) has gone to the B.C. Labour Relations Board to ask the board to designate as an essential service teaching summer school, year-round schools and students in custodial facilities and hospitals.
A hearing has not yet been set for the request.
Teachers started rotating strikes in late May. That job action escalated to a full strike starting June 16. The B.C. government and BCTF are still far apart on the teachers’ demands for higher wages and for class size and composition to be included in bargaining.
The union representing 41,000 British Columbia public school teachers again called for mediation in its ongoing labour dispute with the province.
"I still believe a fair deal is attainable, but the government must come to mediation with willingness to compromise," Iker said.
The union and BCSPEA, the employer, had asked veteran labour mediator Vince Ready to mediate the dispute. However, Ready turned down that request on June 20, saying he was too busy to take on the work.
Iker said the BCTF does have an alternate mediator in mind, but will not name who that individual is.
B.C. Education Minister Peter Fassbender said in a statement the BCTF’s decision to picket summer school if a deal is not reached by June 30 would impact thousands of students but not bring a deal closer.
“Mediation will not split the difference between our respective positions. A mediator will not shake loose hundreds of millions of dollars that we simply do not have.”
With a file from Tyler Orton [email protected]
@jenstden
