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Tentative agreement with K-12 school support staff

CUPE support workers still have to vote on the deal
CUPE

A tentative agreement has been reached between public school employers and CUPE support workers that could spell calm in the education sector if it is approved.

However, it will be months before a vote takes place with local bargaining to take place first.

CUPE branch 561 president Dave Ginter said union presidents will decide Thursday whether to recommend the tentative deal reached with the BC Public School Employers’ Association, and local bargaining on issues specific to School District 43 workers won’t start until the fall.

Once local bargaining is concluded, 1,200 SD43 support workers will vote on the entire deal.

“To me it’s the local bargaining that is the most important,” Ginter said, noting that issues involving education assistants will likely take priority because of their importance in local schools and the fact that there is a shortage.

If ratified by B.C. K-12 support staff, the three year agreement would take effect on July 1, 2019 and would run until June 30, 2022.

According to CUPE BC, highlights of the agreement include a general wage increase of 2% in each year of the three-year contract, language on violence in the workplace, establishment of a joint Occupational Health and Safety task force, a skills enhancement fund, among other things.

However, further details of the tentative agreement won’t be made public until CUPE members have the opportunity to review them.