Nearly 200 School District No. 46 (SD46) support staff workers may strike in the fall if bargaining for a new contract isn't successful come September.
Support workers in the K-12 school system throughout B.C. are covered by the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and following the breakdown of talks at the provincial table, many locals are looking at strike action.
"We've taken a strike vote and in order to hold it over the summer and to exercise our strike mandate, we have to do a small job action," said local CUPE 801 representative Carolyn Smith, explaining that no more action will take place until September.
The "small job action" was evident on Monday, June 24, from 3 to 6 p.m. outside Elphinstone Secondary School. About a dozen supporters showed up to walk a picket line that day.
CUPE 801 members include custodians, clerical staff, administration assistants, SETAs, maintenance staff, occupational therapists, speech and language pathologists, an industry training chef, a lab assistant and child care workers.
"We range right from the classroom to maintaining the grounds and buildings outside," Smith said.
Sunshine Coast workers are members of CUPE 801. They have been without a contract since June of 2012.
Smith also noted workers haven't had a wage increase since 2009.
The average wage for a worker in SD46 is about $24,000 a year, Smith said.
"Our wages are falling further and further behind the private sector in many of our classifications especially trades. The trades are way below what can be achieved in the private sector," she said.
The main issues for all of the CUPE K-12 locals in B.C. are job security and wages.
The local union must bargain with the province and SD46. This week SD46 board chair Silas White said his team is eager to see an acceptable contract tabled.
"We want to see our support staff receive a fair and reasonable deal, as other B.C. public sector workers have received. Under the government's mandate, it is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education to develop a savings plan in support of such a settlement," White said. "Earlier this year, our board requested that the Ministry centrally identify savings and potential new funding in order to provide the K-12 sector with an equitable opportunity to compensate our employees commensurate to that of other sectors. It is long overdue that the Ministry make this a top priority."
Education Minister Peter Fassbender was unavailable for comment this week.
