A classroom at a new middle school in Kelowna opened August 2019. (B.C. government)

A classroom at a new middle school in Kelowna opened August 2019. (B.C. government)

B.C. teachers vote to accept same pay increase as other unions

Negotiations with BCTF dragged on for a year

After a year demanding more than the two-per-cent cap on annual public union contracts, members of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation have accepted a three-year contract.

The union abruptly agreed to the terms of the contract March 27, after the education ministry announced it was suspending classroom instruction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The finance ministry announced the ratification May 1, for a a three-year term retroactive to July 1, 2019.

The new deal exceeds the two per cent raise cap in one area, including a one per cent increase this year for the highest-paid teachers in each of B.C.’s 60 school districts.

RELATED: BCTF rejects mediator’s recommended settlement

RELATED: BCTF says teachers will work after spring break

The settlement of the BCTF dispute means about 90 per cent or 300,000 public sector union members are covered by tentative or ratified agreements under what Finance Minister Carole James calls the “sustainable services negotiating mandate.”

Education Minister Rob Fleming has said B.C. public schools are increasing the number of children of essential workers being offered classroom instruction this spring, but full classroom instruction isn’t expected until fall.


@tomfletcherbc
tfletcher@blackpress.ca

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