In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, the province's teachers and the government announced the two sides had reached a tentative deal that would end the three-month-old teachers' strike.
Both sides immediately put their own spin on the agreement. The government claiming it was a win because the wages were kept down to 7.25 per cent over six years. The teachers' union claiming it was a win because the agreement provides some special funding to add additional teachers.
But did anybody really win in this dispute? Teachers gained nominally - but those gains will probably mostly come from the savings the government achieved by not paying teachers during the strike/lockout.
Perhaps, the definition of a win in union circles nowadays is not what you gain, but that you didn't lose hard-fought-for rights and benefits of the past.
If ratified (teachers were voting on the agreement as this paper went to press), it likely means all will be back to normal by Monday.
And for almost everyone involved, that news couldn't come soon enough.
The job action has caused chaos in the life of many parents and students, financially hurt some teachers who haven't seen a paycheque in months and divided many on the issue of public education in B.C.
The question now: What, if any, impact will this dispute have on the education system?
The Burnaby school district, like many others in the province, was struggling to juggle its budget allotments just to maintain education standards.
This agreement won't, in our opinion, result in a dramatic change in that situation.
The teachers promise to keep the issue of public education front and centre.
But what will that look like?
Long-term collective agreements provide labour peace, but they also take away a reason for unions to rally their members to action.
Only time will tell.
