The union representing public school workers is hoping the provincial government will pay for wage increases in order to avert further job action.
According to a media statement released Thursday, the Canadian Union of Public Employees is "eager to get back to the bargaining table" to reach a settlement with the provincial government, and there are tentative plans to talk in the second week of August.
"We've served strike notice. We've had job action in almost every school district in the province. We've communicated we want to settle it we want to settle it or go on strike," said union spokesperson Colin Pawson. "We've been without a raise for over fours years now, and the cost of living keeps on going up. ... We keep on falling behind."
Pawson explained that the issue comes down to provincial funding for school districts. The Ministry of Education funds school districts, which employ CUPE members as special education assistants, carpenters, clerical staff, IT support staff and custodians. School districts, many of which are facing their own financial troubles, can't afford to foot the bill for a pay increase, so CUPE is pressuring the government for more education funding.
"(Premier) Christy Clark talks about what's good for the families," Pawson said. "Well, what's good for the families is being able to put food on the table, and that's what our members want."
According to Pawson, the average CUPE education worker makes $24,000 a year.
"A lot of people don't understand: we're not 12-month employees. We're nine-month employees," he said. "We're trying to improve that so we don't have to go to food banks."
The B.C. School Employers' Association bargains on behalf of the provincial government, but no one from BCPSEA was available to comment, and the NOW was referred to the Education Ministry instead. According to ministry spokesperson Matt Silver, the government and BCPSEA will sit down next week with CUPE to continue negotiations on the provincial framework.
In a news release Wednesday, July 31 the government announced that it would be replacing BCPSEA's board with Michael Marchbank of the Health Employers' Association of B.C. as the new public administrator for BCPSEA.
Marchbank's temporary appointment is an "interim measure until such time as the necessary legislation is in place to restructure the bargaining process," according to the Ministry of Education.
