標題: [溫哥華本地新聞] Christy Clark to lay out framework for 10-year deal with teachers [打印本頁] 作者: tiffiant 時間: 2013-1-24 06:40 標題: Christy Clark to lay out framework for 10-year deal with teachers
Christy Clark to lay out framework for 10-year deal with teachers
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Christy+Clark+framework+year+deal+with+teachers/7863391/story.html#ixzz2Iu75Phst
VICTORIA -- Premier Christy Clark will on Thursday morning release the road map she hopes can lead her government to a 10-year deal with the province’s teachers.
Entitled "Working Together for Students: A Framework for Long Term Stability in Education," the plan would allow teachers a full right to strike,while at the same time proposing that salary increases for teachers be tied to those negotiated by a handful of public sector employees, including nurses, college faculty and core government employees.
It points out that, over the past 10 years, this group of public sector workers has received average annual increases of two per cent. Over the same time period, it says, teachers have seen average increases of 1.8 per cent per year.
Under the plan, government will also agree to amend the essential services designation to allow teachers an unfettered right to strike.
The proposal lays out a variety of other measures as well, including a new priority education investment fund that could be used to address issues such as class size and composition. It is not clear how much will be dedicated to this fund; however, the plan says the amount could possibly be tied to factors like the province’s economic performance and overall classroom enrollment.
The plan also calls for the formation of a new education policy council -- consisting of trustees, government and members of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation – which would direct the education investment fund and also provide government with recommendations education policy.
The idea of the council is to remove education funding and other thorny issues from the bargaining process, while still giving teachers a voice in how such policies are shaped.
Clark first announced her intention to seek a 10-year deal with the province’s teachers last October, at the time asking newly named Education Minister Don McRae to consult with all major players in the education world and then work towards a framework.
"Imagine a child in Grade 2, starting this year, could go all the way to Grade 12 without any threat of labour disruption. Think of the impact on those kids' education if we could get a 10-year deal with teachers," Clark said at the time.
"I know it's ambitious ... but with a little bit of goodwill on both sides, this is possible."
When Clark announced the plan, BCTF president Susan Lambert said she welcomed any effort to improve a bargaining system that everyone agrees is dysfunctional, but she insisted processes are not the only issue standing in the way of a good relationship between government and teachers.
She said at the time that her union was also determined to win improvements in learning conditions, and that will cost money.
"This is not just a bargaining-structure problem. It's a funding problem," she said at the time.
If the BCTF was to agree to Thursday’s proposed framework, the parameters would apply to a new round of talks set to take place between March 1 and April 1.
From that point on, the framework sets out very specific deadlines to ensure the talks progress swiftly over the summer.
If the two sides have not reached an agreement by June 15, the Minister of Labour will appoint a mediator. That mediator will issue a public report if a deal is not in place by June 30, including an assessment of what he or she thinks each side’s proposal will cost.
By July 15, if a deal has still not been reached, the mediator will issue recommendations for a settlement, which the parties have until July 25 to accept or reject.
If the parties cannot agree on a deal, the BCTF must issue strike notice by August 31, or else the mediator's recommendations – or the government’s counter offer to the mediator – will become the new collective agreement.
Schools will not open in September if strike notice has been issued, unless the BCTF expressly agrees not to disrupt any school activities.
That provision effectively removes the piecemeal labour action seen recently in the province’s schools, and forces the issue into either a negotiated resolution or a full-scale walkout.
Clark is scheduled to announce the plan Thursday at 9:30 a.m. in Surrey.作者: tiffiant 時間: 2013-1-24 06:41
Premier Christy Clark will on Thursday morning release the road map she hopes can lead her government to a 10-year deal with the province’s teachers.
