The province's teachers are willing to settle for a modest pay increase costing approximately $300 million over three years, but that still may not be enough as they try to negotiate a new collective bargaining agreement with the B.C. Public School Employers' Association.
On Tuesday afternoon, the teachers' federation announced that it is bringing in a new reduced package of proposals that it hopes will break the logjam in the ongoing labour dispute.
The teachers are proposing a three-year agreement, with a salary increase based on a three per cent cost of living allowance in the first year, and three per cent cost of living allowance plus three per cent market adjustments in each of the second and third years of the proposed deal.
According to a teachers' federation press release, the package also proposes modest improvements to benefits, which have not changed in 18 years, and to preparation time.
"Ever since bargaining opened last spring, we have clearly expressed to government and the B.C. Public School Employers' Association that we are seeking a freely negotiated settlement that leads to better learning conditions for students and provides fair and reasonable improvements for teachers," teachers' federation president Susan Lambert said in a press release.
"In almost 70 bargaining sessions they (BCPSEA) have refused to budge.
"Today, we are making a significant move toward the kind of compromise that we all know is needed for negotiations to succeed.
"Yes, $300 million is a lot of money," Lambert acknowledged, "but look at the scale of the endeavour. Our public schools serve children in every community across our vast province. Quality public education is the most important investment any society can make, an investment in the future."
While the proposal is vastly different from the teachers' proposal last year - BCPSEA estimated that proposal to cost $2.9 billion - it still doesn't meet the government's net zero mandate.
"Net zero amounts to a pay cut, while a cost of living adjustment is essentially a wage freeze," said Lambert.
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