If teachers want to get back to mediation, they’re going to have to move on wages and benefits, B.C. Education Minister Peter Fassbender told the NOWThursday.
Fassbender called the newspaper this week as part of a provincewide media blitz to get the government’s message out about the ongoing teachers’ labour dispute.
“(Local media) are talking to local union reps who are putting a particular spin on things,” he said, “so what I’m trying to do is just make sure that all the facts are out there, and you can make a decision what you write and present it.”
The education minister stressed the importance of BCTF negotiators bringing what he called “realistic” demands to the table for wages and benefits.
He said the union’s current demands still total double those accepted by other public sector employees.
“If we were to even consider that, who would we take that money from?” Fassbender asked. “From the nurses? From other public services? The government is not prepared to do that. We’re not prepared to increase taxes. We’re not prepared to put the province into deficit and lose our triple-A credit rating.”
Asked whether the government was prepared to move on class size and class composition, the education minister said the government is already offering $375 million over its proposed six-year contract. Current teacher demands would total $225 million per year.
“That is a non-starter,” he said.
Would government consider arbitration?
Fassbender said no, calling that route “absolutely the last resort.”
“Arbitration allows a third party to come in and make decisions that should be made by the parties at the negotiating table,” he said.
Talks broke off between government negotiators and the teachers’ union last weekend, and no new talks are scheduled, meaning school startup has been postponed indefinitely.
Fassbender said ministry staff are working with school districts to come up with a plan for students to make up the lost school days.
“There is a number of things that are being evaluated and discussed by the teams," Fassbender told the NOW’s New Westminster sister paper, The Record Wednesday. “There are a number of them: extending the year, shortening holidays, extending hours.”
He told the NOW that the ministry was looking at “all of the options.”
