Teachers accepted the tentative agreement from the province Thursday night with an 86 per cent affirmative vote that effectively ended the strike and solidified a Monday school start-up.
Of the 31,741 B.C. teachers that voted on Sept. 18 a total of 27,275 voted in favour of the new six-year agreement. While there are about 41,000 teachers in the province, B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) president Jim Iker said he was happy with the turnout at the polls.
“Our turnout here was huge and this vote actually had more people voting than in our last four ratification votes,” Iker said at a press conference held Thursday night.
When asked by reporters what kind of response he was getting from teachers about the deal, some of which had been voicing their displeasure on social media, Iker said he realized it wasn’t everything they wanted.
“We had 27,275 who voted yes, that was a strong vote of support for this collective agreement even though we know that we didn’t get everything that we need in terms of our students and our members but as we move forward and we continue our advocacy, our engagement will continue,” he said.
Education Minister Peter Fassbender applauded the BCTF for its acceptance of the deal, which has yet to be released to media in its entirety.
"On behalf of government, I want to thank and congratulate B.C. teachers for voting in favour of the agreement reached earlier this week between the BCTF and BCPSEA bargaining teams,” Fassbender said in a press release.
"We can now focus on the path forward. This long-term agreement is an historic opportunity to work together for students–to enhance their education experience and to support their achievements."
Students will be back in class on Monday on the Coast and that first day will be a half-day schedule that starts around two hours later than normal.
The start and end times on Sept. 22 are as follows:
Elementary Schools
Cedar Grove: 11 a.m. to 1:25 p.m.
Davis Bay: 11:10 a.m. to 1:35 p.m.
Gibsons: 11:20 a.m. to 1:35 p.m.
Halfmoon Bay: 10:30 a.m. to 1:05 p.m.
Kinnikinnick: 10:55 a.m. to 12:55 p.m.
Langdale: 11 a.m. to 1:20 p.m.
Madeira Park: 11:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Roberts Creek: 11:10 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
West Sechelt: 11:15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Secondary Schools
Chatelech: 11:15 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Elphinstone: 11:05 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
Pender Harbour: 11: 15 a.m. to 1:45 p.m.
