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BCTF talks at stalemate

B.C. teachers don’t expect a new deal with the province by the time their contract expires at the end of June, says Jason Gammon.

“What we’ve been hearing from (the B.C. Teachers’ Federation) is that they’re at a stalemate,” said Gammon, president of the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association, a BCTF local. “They’re not making a lot of progress.”

Despite that, bargaining is completed in the Greater Victoria School District, said Gammon, who represents just over 2,000 teachers.

“But it’s much different because it’s non-cost items,” he said. “Any cost items go to the provincial table.”

The local agreement is still subject to ratification, Gammon said.

“Then it’s a long wait to meld the two, the local and the provincial agreements together.”

Gammon said there will be no job action involving teachers when the 2019-20 school year starts in September.

Bargaining with the BCTF is ongoing, Alan Chell, chairman of the board of directors for the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association, said in a statement.

“BCPSEA and the BCTF have a full set of bargaining sessions scheduled through to the end of June,” he said. “So there is still time to make significant progress before the end of the month if there is a will to have the detailed discussions and find solutions to address the needs of both parties to the agreement — public boards of education and public school teachers.”

He said that in the BCPSEA’s view “negotiations are not proceeding at the pace they should be.”

The two parties have been at the bargaining table for over 50 days.



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