Public school students across B.C. will not be in classrooms this morning [Monday] as negotiations continue between teachers and the government.
The two sides bargained throughout the weekend at a downtown Vancouver hotel.
Today, teachers are holding study sessions and a full scale strike could begin if a deal isn’t reached by tomorrow.
The teachers’ union served the required 72 hours strike notice last Thursday, after the province’s 41,000 teachers voted 86 per cent in favour of escalating job action.
Things have gone quiet since Friday, with negotiations taking place behind closed doors. Global BC Legislative Bureau Chief Keith Baldrey says “no news is good news.”
The BCTF has apparently lowered their wage proposal, but still not to a level that is acceptable to the province. A counter-offer is expected to be presented to the BCTF tonight.
Baldrey says up until now, most of the conversation at the bargaining table has been about compensation, and not about class size and composition.
If a deal is not reached tonight, talks will continue tomorrow unless one of the parties walks away from the table.
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