Government and school support workers still negotiating
Posted August 31, 2013 1:20 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – School support workers across BC will continue negotiations until the end of next week with an eye towards avoiding a province-wide strike. Both sides are set to negotiate through the first week of school.
After that though, it’s anybody’s guess.
Colin Pawson with CUPE says that doesn’t mean a strike is imminent the following week.
“No, as long as we’re moving forward, as long as we’re working towards getting a settlement, we have no plans of doing any job action,” he says.
He is still hopeful of reaching a two-year deal and avoiding a strike altogether. There are just over 27,000 support workers across the province which include bus drivers, caretakers and lunchroom attendants among other jobs.
“We want to do our jobs which is working with the kids, the kids have just come back to school,” he says. “All the members of CUPE want to do the job they’ve been hired to do.”
He says the union hasn’t yet discussed specific details of any strike if things go that far.
