A strike that would shut down schools in New Westminster and across the province could be announced as early as tomorrow, if the province and the union representing support workers don't reach an agreement soon.
Marcel Marsolais, president of the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 409, which represents New Westminster's school support staff, said his union is prepared to strike if there isn't any movement during the most recent course of bargaining with the province, which started today.
"We can't draw anymore lines in the sand," Marsolais told The Record. "The plan of action is a full-out strike. We'll shut down every school in this province where the CUPE local has a strike mandate."
The union would try to give caregivers as much notice as possible if it comes to a strike, and the duration of the strike would be indefinite, at this point, until the parties could ratify an agreement, Marsolais said.
The union's collective agreements are being negotiated under the province's "cooperative gains mandate," which means school districts have to pay for any wage increases for education assistants, clerks, trades workers, bus drivers and others.
But finding an estimated $400,000 to fund the wage increases in New Westminster will likely prove challenging for the district, which has a hefty $4.1-million deficit from previous years and had to cut approximately 60 jobs - about eight per cent of its workforce - to balance the coming year's budget.
Finding the savings to fund the wage increases would likely mean even more job cuts in New Westminster, Marsolais said.
"It's not going to be pretty," he said, adding the 37 support staff positions the district cut to balance this year's budget are already being felt in local schools.
"School district's are writing letters to Minister (Peter) Fassbender saying basically, they can't afford to do this, and (asking) where do you want us to cut next? They've cut supply budgets. They've cut to the bone, and we're just experiencing it in our region, but I think small-town British Columbia been experiencing this for a long time with declining enrolment," Marsolais said.
Last month, Fassbender told reporters he was "optimistic" that an agreement could be reached between the province and the union.
"We recognize the critical role they (CUPE staff) play, and I am optimistic that we can find a resolution and there will be no disruption," Fassbender said at the time. "Our intent is to help every district get to a place where they can have an agreement that meets the cooperative gains mandate and that meets the overall objective of stability and no walkouts."
CUPE represents about 27,000 support staff across the province.
