“Vince Ready has left talks between the B.C. teachers’ union and the provincial government in Richmond, B.C., saying the sides are too far apart to come to a resolution anytime soon.
“I don’t see a resolution here before the start of school given the positions of the parties. They are a long, long ways apart,” the veteran mediator said.
He has been working as a facilitator since Thursday, when talks resumed after a summer of stalled negotiations.
Veteran mediator Vince Ready said Friday night that the parties in the teachers’ dispute were far from a resolution. On Saturday he walked, saying there was no need for him as the two sides were too far apart. (CBC)
Ready said he was trying to “establish some kind of a meaningful framework for mediation.”
But, the two sides’ positions on wages, benefits and class composition remained “a long ways apart,” he told reporters as he left a building that had housed the talks on Saturday just after 5:30 p.m. PT.
There had not been enough movement between teachers and their employer for him to justify staying involved, he said, adding he couldn’t imagine anything would develop over the weekend that would allow classes to start as scheduled on Tuesday.
Ready said the next steps are up to the negotiators working for the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and for the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association.”
Raw interview with Vince Ready: http://www.cbc.ca/player/News/Canada/BC/ID/2502416508/
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