The union representing the New Westminster school district’s support staff is planning a strike vote next week after provincial powers vetoed a locally negotiated agreement.
Marcel Marsolais, president of CUPE local 409, said the school district and the union had come to an agreement in June, which was ratified by union membership and approved by the school board. But the deal had to be approved by the provincial government’s accredited bargaining agent, the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA).
“Unacceptably, they can veto anybody’s agreement, and that’s exactly what they did,” Marsolais said. “We’re appalled by the fact that these two levels of bureaucracy have had the right to interfere with what was bargained freely and in good faith, and it’s got to stop.”
After June 18 and into September, Marsolais said he hadn’t heard at all from the BCPSEA, and when he did hear from the bargaining body, it was indirectly and only to indicate its position.
Now, the matter is set to go to mediation for Oct. 22, with a strike vote scheduled to begin after that – unless a deal can be struck in mediation.
Among the sticking points, Marsolais said the BCPSEA was refusing to give an additional sick day per year for employees. For employees who only work during the school year, the number of sick days was agreed to increase to 16 days from 15 previously, while for year-round employees, it increased to 19 days from 18 days.
BCPSEA and the union also disagreed on how to use a fund intended to target local needs – of $7 million offered by the province, CUPE 409 is getting around $93,000. The money, which Marsolais said is coming from the province for the first time in 19 years, is intended to help support staff in ways that will improve the education experience for students.
Marsolais said CUPE wanted part of that to go to benefits for members on long-term disability, which he costed at around $5,000, and which he said has been successfully bargained by other locals. But he said BCPSEA claims that won’t benefit students’ education.
“We argue that, in fact, anything we do for the people that support students, work with students and clean up after students is beneficial to student achievement,” Marsolais said.
He said CUPE 409’s bargaining team made “somewhat of a concession” they believed would be acceptable to its membership, and they’re willing to work on smaller items like changes to the driving allowance.
“But on the big-ticket items, we’re not in a position to move,” he said.
Marsolais said the BCPSEA was expecting CUPE 409 to give up one of the five professional development days, and to take it as a vacation day instead.
“We want to stick with the memorandum of settlement that our members ratified on June 18 that we bargained in good faith at the local table,” Marolais said.
In an email statement, Deborah Stewart with the BCPSEA said the agreement reached by the school district and CUPE 409 "was not in alignment with the public sector bargaining mandate."
"The school district is required to negotiate within the public sector bargaining mandate established by the provincial government through the Public Sector Employers’ Council," Stewart said.
"The local parties also have the option of including the Provincial Framework Agreement, recommended by both CUPE and BCPSEA, as part of their local collective agreement if they conclude their local agreement by November 30, 2019."
Stewart added 70 per cent of public sector union employees are now covered by new collective agreements that comply with bargaining mandate, "including many CUPE locals in school districts."
“BCPSEA and the school district are optimistic that with the assistance of the mediator a collective agreement can be concluded that is satisfactory for both parties."
