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New Westminster teachers' union head offers thoughts on new proposal to end labour dispute

New Westminster Teachers' Union president Grant Osborne calls it a "significant movement on behalf of teachers to try and get a negotiated settlement.

New Westminster Teachers' Union president Grant Osborne calls it a "significant movement on behalf of teachers to try and get a negotiated settlement."

But within hours of the province's teachers asking for a modest pay increase costing approximately $300 million over three years, Education Minister George Abbott was saying it's "not a huge cause for optimism" because it doesn't meet the government's net-zero mandate.

"Those comments are quite disappointing," said Osborne. "We don't know how serious (the government) is about a negotiated settlement."

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.

The new proposal also includes modest improvements to benefits, which have not changed in 18 years, and to preparation time.

"We believe we have moved significantly," said Osborne. "We have tried to be patient and what we have proposed is a fair and reasonable salary increase."

The teachers' federation and the B.C. Public School Employers' Association have engaged in almost 70 bargaining sessions since last autumn, with little common ground being found.

Osborne said the government asking teachers to stick to a net-zero pay increase is not realistic when compared to other government decisions.

"It's not about costing, it's about decisions," he said. "Look at the cost of the new roof at B.C. Place. $300 million is only half the cost of that roof."

While the teachers' new 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.

Osborne also took exception to BCPSEA inflating the cost of the teachers' original demands.

"Those were hugely inflated numbers," he said, referencing one way the numbers ballooned was that when teachers asked for an increase in sick days, BCPSEA costed that out as if all teachers would take advantage of all of those additional sick days.

Osborne did admit that teachers didn't counter with what their original demands would cost, but to him, the bigger picture is that BCPSEA "has shown no appetite to negotiate.

"We make significant movement and all we get back is net zero."

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