Close X
Wednesday, November 27, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. Teachers' Strike: BCTF Offers Vote On Binding Arbitration

Darpan News Desk Darpan, 08 Sep, 2014 07:10 PM
    British Columbia’s teachers’ union is forging ahead in its pursuit of binding arbitration to end its ongoing strike, hoping another show of solidarity with a provincewide vote will convince a government that’s already firmly rejected the offer to come around.
     
    The B.C. Teachers’ Federation is urging members to approve the settlement method in a vote on Wednesday and will promptly move to re-open schools if government agrees to the proposal and will take whatever contract an independent third-party determines is fair.
     
    “Again, it’s us proposing solutions. We think it’s the fastest, easiest solution right now,” union president Jim Iker told reporters on Monday, as the strike marched into its second week of delaying the school year.
     
    “What we’re saying by the vote is we’re already going to be saying ‘Yes,’ if government agrees.”
     
    Iker called the government’s refusal over the weekend to accept the resolution “a political knee-jerk reaction.”
     
    But Iker said the union still has a pre-condition to binding arbitration: scrapping clause E80.
     
    The contentious clause, introduced by government negotiators, deals with bargaining classroom conditions and includes an adjoining stipulation that if either side is unsatisfied with a pending court ruling on the matter, the collective agreement can be terminated.
     
    “It’s time for this government to drop the single biggest hurdle,” Iker said.
     
    Iker put forward the union’s more detailed proposal over nine hours of talks on the weekend with the government’s chief negotiator, Peter Cameron, and veteran mediator Vince Ready.
     
    But Education Minister Peter Fassbender didn’t bend.
     
     
    “After due diligence and further investigation, it became very clear that it was another empty effort to give parents and teachers a false hope that there is a simple way to resolve the dispute,” Fassbender said in a statement issued on Saturday.
     
    Fassbender responded on Wednesday by accusing union leadership of creating a ploy to deflect its responsibility for presenting an affordable contract.
     
    Fassbender says he feels like he’s in the film Groundhog Day, where the same day repeats over and over, as he told reporters that binding arbitration is not in the cards because he fears it would end up costing taxpayers money.
     
    The minister also rejected the union’s demand the employer scrap a clause related to class size and composition, while repeating the government is determined to get a deal at the bargaining table rather than through legislation.
     
    The union’s framework for settlement states it will hand over to an arbitrator unresolved items including salary, signing bonus, extended health benefits and dental, teaching-on-call issues, pregnancy leave top-up and preparation time.
     
    In a new move from last week’s proposal, the union said it would put its request for a new fund to hire more specialist teachers to an arbitrator.
     
    The government has never agreed a new fund is required, stating it has already dedicated ongoing funds to deal with classroom size and composition.
     
    On Monday, the Opposition New Democrats called on the Liberal government to accept the union’s terms.
     
    Leader John Horgan said the government has money in its budget, or, can raise enough money to sweeten the pot and prompt a deal. He didn’t mention raising taxes outright, saying it’s the job of government to find ways to solve difficult issues.
     
    “There’s enough money for this,” said Horgan. “Government’s responsibility is to manage the affairs of the public. That’s why we’re here.”
     
     
    NDP education critic Rob Fleming said the union was offering an acceptable route to ending the impasse.
     
    “We’ve got Peter Fassbender out there talking like he’s a Scottish trade unionist insisting that bargaining should continue when it’s failed,” Fleming said. “We need something different.”
     
    Finance Minister Mike de Jong said Monday voters re-elected the Liberals on their promise not to increase taxes and suggested that if the government accepted the union’s current proposal, it would cost every property owner in B.C. $200 more annually.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Parents Scrambling For Daycare Spaces As B.C. Teachers' Strike Delays School

    Parents Scrambling For Daycare Spaces As B.C. Teachers' Strike Delays School
    VANCOUVER - Daycare operators in British Columbia are scrambling to keep up with increased demand for child support as more parents need places to babysit their kids because schools will not open.

    Parents Scrambling For Daycare Spaces As B.C. Teachers' Strike Delays School

    Edmonton Woman Is Identified As Victim In B.C. Plane Crash

    Edmonton Woman Is Identified As Victim In B.C. Plane Crash
    CRESTON, B.C. - A woman who died in a plane crash north of Creston, B.C., was a resident of Edmonton.

    Edmonton Woman Is Identified As Victim In B.C. Plane Crash

    How Calgary Brothers Became Terrorists, Thompson Rivers University Teammates 'Flabbergasted'

    How Calgary Brothers Became Terrorists, Thompson Rivers University Teammates 'Flabbergasted'
    One of two brothers from Calgary who reportedly travelled overseas to join a terrorist group in Syria was a quiet but social young man who didn't talk about religion during a short time playing volleyball at a British Columbia university, say people who knew him at the time.

    How Calgary Brothers Became Terrorists, Thompson Rivers University Teammates 'Flabbergasted'

    23 Year Old Donovan Adams Charged With Sex Assault of 9 Year Old Surrey Girl

    23 Year Old Donovan Adams Charged With Sex Assault of 9 Year Old Surrey Girl
    In a press Press conference in Surrey, RCMP Superintendent Trent Rolfe announced that Donovan Adams, 23 years old is charged with kidnapping, sexual assault of 9 Year Old Surrey Girl

    23 Year Old Donovan Adams Charged With Sex Assault of 9 Year Old Surrey Girl

    From London, Prime Minister Harper Describes Sotloff Death As 'Barbaric And Unacceptable'

    From London, Prime Minister Harper Describes Sotloff Death As 'Barbaric And Unacceptable'
    LONDON - Prime Minister Stephen Harper is in the U.K. in advance of a NATO summit in Wales later this week — and tweeting about reports of another beheading in Iraq.

    From London, Prime Minister Harper Describes Sotloff Death As 'Barbaric And Unacceptable'

    Canadian Researchers Track 'Angelina Effect' On Cancer Gene Screening

    Canadian Researchers Track 'Angelina Effect' On Cancer Gene Screening
    Angelina Jolie's stunning revelation she had a preventative double mastectomy due to a genetic cancer risk has doubled the number of high risk women considering genetic testing to see if they carry certain genes linked to breast and ovarian cancers, new Canadian research suggests.

    Canadian Researchers Track 'Angelina Effect' On Cancer Gene Screening