School year in limbo as teachers head into collective bargaining mediation

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – With children across the province set to head back to school next month, parents are being told there is no guarantee teachers will be back in the classroom.

B.C. Teachers Federation President Teri Mooring says eight days have been set aside for mediation this month with the bargaining team representing the BC Public School Employers’ Association.

“We’ll kind of cross that bridge when we get to it, but for now, we’re focused on making the most of August so we don’t have to deal with going into September without a collective agreement secured,” says Mooring.

No guarantees unionized teachers in #BC will have a new contract when classes resume next month, but @bctf President @TeriMooring says she's confident a new collective agreement can be reached with #BCPublicSchoolEmployersAssociation before September. #education @NEWS1130 pic.twitter.com/vuCAc16R1l

— Marcella Bernardo (@MBernardoNews) August 12, 2019

Mooring says those eight days are more than enough to get a new collective bargaining agreement finalized.

“Obviously, it takes two sides to bargain,” she says. “We’re hopeful to have our negotiations settled before the start of the school year. Obviously, there are no guarantees.”

She says mediated talks set to start next week will focus on class size and composition — something the union spent years fighting for — right up to Canada’s highest court.

“Not interested in any way in rolling that language back. When we won that language back, it meant that 3,700 teachers were hired and a significant improvement to student learning conditions and so, we’re very happy about that.”

RELATED: B.C. teachers’ collective agreement to expire at end of June

Recruitment and retention will also be discussed.

“The recruitment and retention issue we have manifests across the entire province. So, there really isn’t anywhere in the province where, for example, there are enough teachers to fill in, teachers teaching on call when teachers are ill or have to be away.”

She says that it’s a big issue in small rural communities near Alberta where teachers make up to $15,000 more per year.