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June 23, 2014
MEDIA RELEASE: BCCPAC’s Position on the Call for a New Bargaining Structure and the Appointment of a Mediator.
The BC Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils (BCCPAC) applauds the Premier’s directive to Education Minister Peter Fassbender to restructure the collective bargaining process with the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF).
It won’t be easy, but it’s definitely what parents want to see. BCCPAC also fully supports the BCTF’s call to have a mediator appointed to help solve the ongoing contract dispute and is pleased that government has agreed to this request. Preferably this will be someone both sides can agree on. We hope this will result in a settlement negotiated at the table before the end of June.
In response to our recent survey about the current situation, PAC leaders from hundreds ofschools around the province made it clear they want the bargaining process reformed so thatstudents are not caught in the middle. That was the top answer to the survey question: “What is your PAC’s position on the current labour dispute?” Calls for reform, followed by calls for anend to the current labour dispute, outnumbered the responses that sided with one party or theother.
“Parents want an end to the continual turmoil that disrupts our children’s education and asettlement to the current dispute. This broken, confrontational bargaining system has hurtchildren and families for too long and it must be fixed. If there is a crisis in BC education, this isit,” President-elect Nicole Makohoniuk emphasized.
We hope that both sides will agree to a full media blackout while this round of negotiationscontinue, including an end to any advertising by either side. We wish all parties every success in revising the bargaining structure so that students never again face the situation they are in today. BCCPAC is ready to help find a solution and looks forward to being involved in this discussion.
Our December 2012 submission to the Provincial Government on this topic has more detail:http://www.bccpac.bc.ca/sites/default/files/bccpac_position_paper_on_bcteacher_bargaining_structure_final.pdf
Please contact our office at info@bccpac.bc.ca or 604-687-4433 if you have further questions.
Media Contact:
BCCPAC Office
604-687-4433
info@bccpac.bc.ca
Visit BCCPAC online at http://www.bccpac.bc.ca/
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