The BC Teachers’ Federation Executive Committee has voted to extend the strike to summer school — a decision that has no impact on Revelstoke since School District 19 does not offer a summer school program — if a settlement is not reached by June 30.
Union President Jim Iker said teachers will set up picket lines at worksites where summer school is located.
“Both parties, separated by only 1%, are well within reach of an agreement on wages,” he said in a statement.
“The holdup is now a lack of commitment from government to adequately fund improvements to class size, class composition, and staffing levels for specialist teachers.”
BC teachers are seeking a deal based on five key points:
- A five-year term;
- A reasonable 8% salary increase plus signing bonus;
- No concessions;
- An annual workload fund that adequately addresses issues of class size, class composition, and staffing ratios as an interim measure while both parties await the next court ruling; and
- A retroactive grievances fund, as a resolution to Justice Griffin’s BC Supreme Court decision that retroactively restored the stripped language from 2002. This fund would be used to address other working conditions like preparation time and TTOC compensation improvements, as well as modest improvements to health benefits.
According to Ministry of Education data, summer school is offered in 26 of BC’s 60 school districts and about 10% of BC students enrol. This year’s estimate is for 53,600 students.
