Over the weekend the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) suggested binding arbitration and dismantling picket lines as a way to get kids back to class; however, the provincial government rejected the idea. On Monday, Sept. 8, the BCTF pitched their plan again, saying members would vote Wednesday, Sept. 10, to end their strike if government would reconsider and agree to arbitration.
Peter Cameron, lead negotiator with the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA), sent a letter to Minister of Education Peter Fassbender on Saturday, Sept. 6, urging him not to accept the deal originally pitched by BCTF president Jim Iker on Friday.
In the letter Cameron said he didn’t have a written copy of the new BCTF proposal, that legally under the Public Sector Employers Act the government shouldn’t give authority to a third party “to bind employers to a settlement proposal” and that the plan came with “a number of direct and implicit preconditions that are unacceptable.”
The conditions noted in the letter included having BCPSEA drop their proposal on class size and composition and making wages and benefits one issue and preparation time another.
“As a result of the above investigation, I have concluded that the BCTF proposal was never intended to be a serious proposal, and was merely a vehicle for a press conference to give false hope to BCTF members and the public. Particularly telling was the fact that the BCTF did not prepare anything in writing,” Cameron wrote to Fassbender.
“The proposal, therefore, should be rejected for all the above reasons.”
Fassbender rejected the deal publicly later that day, saying he agreed with Cameron’s findings.
On Sunday, Sept. 7, the BCTF posted their “Framework for Settlement Through Binding Arbitration” online and on Monday, Sept. 8, BCTF president Jim Iker held a press conference calling on government “to just say yes” to the union’s plan.
“If it’s a matter of policy, they can change it. You are the government after all. If it’s confusion over the details, ask Peter Cameron. He was in the room with Vince Ready and me for several hours going over every single detail on Friday as well as Saturday. The B.C. Liberal government’s rejection of binding arbitration was a knee-jerk reaction. Binding arbitration remains the fastest and most effective way to end this strike, to reach a fair settlement and get students back in classrooms,” Iker said.
“Today we’re giving government another chance. B.C. Teachers are prepared to stand behind our plan and put it to a vote. Christy Clark and Peter Fassbender have been asking for a vote. Now they will get it. The BCTF will put the question to teachers on Wednesday, Sept. 10. Teachers will be asked if they are prepared to end the strike if the government agrees to our binding arbitration proposal. The BCTF executive is recommending a yes vote.”
In response to Iker’s press conference, Fassbender set up a meeting with reporters Monday afternoon where he said, “Binding arbitration is not in the cards in this dispute. Period.”
“Arbitration is not something this government is going to consider, and the reason we’re not is we recognize that our responsibility as government is not only to the BCTF members, to give them a fair settlement, it is also to the taxpayers of this province. And arbitration simply takes the responsibility away from both parties to get to a negotiated or mediated settlement and gives it to a third party,” Fassbender said.
“It is not fiscally responsible to do that for the taxpayers of British Columbia, and quite honestly, I think the BCTF needs to be prepared to put a mediated settlement in front of their members that is in the zone, that respects issues of class size and composition in this round of bargaining for a new contract.”
He asked Iker to modify the BCTF’s Wednesday vote.
“Ask your members this Wednesday for the ability for the executive to suspend strike action for whatever period of time would be involved for us to negotiate and mediate a final settlement,” Fassbender said.
“That’s my challenge to Mr. Iker if he wants to take a vote, and it is clear to me that this is an attempt to deflect any responsibilities from themselves and put it all on the government.”
