Mediated bargaining resumes Monday for thousands of unionized teachers across B.C.

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — The start of the school year won’t be disrupted by job action, but what happens in September depends on how well the next two weeks of bargaining goes for thousands of unionized teachers.

While the focus will be on bargaining class size and composition, the president of the BC Teachers Federation, Teri Mooring, says wages are also a key issue.

“Places like Fort St. John and Dawson Creek, teachers can go across the border and make $15,000 a year more which is significant. Teachers in B.C. are paid so low. We’re the second-lowest paid teachers nationally and we’re the lowest paid teachers of all the western provinces and we have a very high cost of living, as we’re all aware of in B.C. as well, especially in the Lower Mainland.”

She says she’s not worried about a government mandate limiting all public sector pay raises to two per cent for each of the next three years.

“We’re aware of other unions that have been able to negotiate different ways of getting more in terms of salary for different parts of their membership and that sort of thing, so we look at teachers’ salaries in terms of increasing them. We’re looking at that at the bargaining table as well. There are ways.”

RELATED: School year in limbo as teachers head into collective bargaining mediation

Starting Monday, eight days of mediation –if needed– have been booked with the bargaining team for the BC Public School Employers’ Association.

Mooring adds stronger incentives are needed to keep new teachers graduating from university in this province.

“Tuition forgiveness, for example, for loans in remote communities. That sort of thing,” she says.

While she admits there’s a chance no deal will be reached before classes resume Sept. 3, Mooring insists eight days is plenty of time to negotiate a new collective agreement.

The BCTF represents 43,000 teachers.

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