As some government workers hit the picket lines this week, British Columbia students are heading back to class — putting the spotlight on another potential brewing labour conflict.
The B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) has been bargaining with the province since the spring, and has been without a contract since the end of June.
While there are close to a dozen bargaining dates still to come, the teachers’ union says it’s closely watching the B.C. General Employees’ Union (BCGEU) strike, and not ruling out job action of its own if talks with the employer break down.
“Job action is always a possibility in a bargaining round. Withholding one’s labour is something that we have a right to do during bargaining. when we reach impasse,” said BCTF president Carole Gordon.
“We’re not there yet, we are actively bargaining. We have dates set starting next week, right through to the end of October. So we’re looking for a deal this fall that prevents that.”
Gordon said teachers are focused on two key issues: wages that reflect the rising cost of living, and working conditions.
The province is facing an ongoing shortage of teachers, Gordon said, and if it hopes to attract and retain educators it will need to address both of those issues.
“We are seeing huge workload issues within our classroom. It doesn’t matter if you’re in kindergarten, grade seven, all the way through to secondary school. The working conditions are students’ learning conditions,” she said.
“It’s a really rewarding profession. But if you don’t impact or don’t affect or improve the classroom conditions, you’re not going to get people wanting to stay or come into this profession.”
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Gordon said the BCTF is standing in solidarity with the BCGEU, now in its second day on the picket lines largely over what it says is an insufficient wage offer on the part of the province, and will be keenly watching any gains it makes.
The province is currently in the midst of contract negotiations with multiple major public sector unions, including the B.C. Nurses’ Union.
Facing a deficit of at least $7.3 billion and “me-too” clauses in major public sector contracts that wage hikes secured by one union automatically applied to another, the province has been negotiating with a framework it calls the “balanced measures mandate” it says aims to “protect and strengthen critical services” while supporting “efforts to find operational efficiencies that preserve front-line services.”
“I think that this government has a strong history of being a fair partner to labour and it certainly is our intention that we will continue to ensure fair wages and fair working conditions to the labour workers in British Columbia,” Finance Minister Brenda Bailey said.
“These are folks that provide incredibly important services and we value them very highly and we also need to ensure that any deal that is reached is fair to all British Columbians, and in the context of the global challenges that we’re facing right now, particularly the trade war, we believe that this is a fair mandate that we are operating within.”
Jason Ellis, an associate professor of educational studies at UBC, said the province will definitely face pressure to limit wage increases, as labour represents 90 per cent of education operating costs.
But he said unlike in the case with the BCGEU, salaries likely won’t be the key sticking point in negotiations.
Ellis said the twin issues of wages on one hand and class size and composition on the other have complicated negotiations with B.C. teachers for more than two decades.
“In the past, the bigger problem was the class size and composition part of the contract. In the 2020 round … they set that aside a little bit because of COVID and they were able to come to an agreement on wages much more quickly,” he said.
“And so if salary is the driving issue here, then the resolution might be easier and more quick. And if it’s class size and composition, then it might take a little longer.”
Strikes in the recent past, he said, have tended to result from conflict over the working conditions aspect of negotiations.
That could potentially mean a bumpy road ahead.
Gordon said that during the last round of bargaining teachers had been able to address some issues with wages and inflation, but that they weren’t satisfied with progress on working conditions.
“It’s really time,” she said.
“We have a very serious retention and recruitment issue. And we are looking at the bargaining process to try and address some of those concerns.”
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