School District 43 support workers will likely vote after Christmas on a two-year contract after an agreement was reached this week between the BC Public School Employers' Association and the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
There is no money for wage increases but $7.5 million per year will be paid for work special education assistants (SEAs) do after school for which they historically haven't been paid and to reorganize work schedules so they can get more full-time hours, among other things.
Money for the cash infusion comes from a $165 million Class Organization Fund announced in October to deal with complex classroom issues.
CUPE 561 president Dave Ginter said the provincial deal was reached after the employers took concessions off the table and he said he will be recommending approval. The vote is expected to take place before Feb. 29.
Ginter acknowledged that while the deal comes with no wage increases, it includes a clause that opens up wages for bargaining if another public sector union gets an increase during the lifetime of the contract, which concludes June 30, 2012.
"If the teachers come and get the money, the 'me too clause' would ensure all the big unions get it, as well," Ginter explained, adding that negotiating higher wages was difficult in the current climate when 66% of public sector unions have already approved contracts without increases.
Meanwhile, negotiations are continuing at the local level between CUPE 561 and School District 43 and Ginter said the union is looking to reduce the hourly cut-off for when full benefits kick in, currently set at 35 hours. "No SEA works 35 (hours), so I say move that down to where people actually work, that would be 30 (hours)," he said, noting part-time workers have to pay for some of their benefits, which can be costly.
Ginter is hopeful that a deal can be reached before Feb. 29, which would allow the local issues to be included in the provincial framework. He noted that SD43 already groups hours together so SEAS can work a 30-hour week, which is an issue the provincial agreement will now try to address.
"We've had enough meetings and time. We should be able to come up with either an agreement with the employer or we're just too far apart," Ginter said.
There are approximately 325 SEAs out of 1,500 CUPE support workers in the district.
Meanwhile, bargaining between BCPSEA and the BC Teachers Federation appears stalled, with the employer continuing to argue that teachers should be docked pay for not doing duties, such as filling out report cards. The BCPSEA is appealing a Labour Relations Board ruling that said teachers shouldn't lose 15% of their pay because there is no evidence that they are only doing 85% of their job. According to BCPSEA, the LRB's interpretation of essential services was inaccurate.
Teacher job action, meanwhile, is resulting in some interesting dynamics at board of education meetings. At an SD43 board meeting Tuesday, Coquitlam Teachers Association representatives couldn't speak to the board or sit beside administrators at the speakers' microphone.
