June 27, 2012 - 12:55 AM
VANCOUVER - A tentative one-year agreement has been reached in the B.C. Teachers’ dispute.
The agreement between the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the provincial government follows weeks of mediation efforts.
In a statement released last Tuesday, B.C. Education Minister George Abbott says the agreement is consistent with the government’s net-zero mandate.
He says the agreement "sets out improved language to manage leave provisions" and both sides have agreed to further discuss improvements on "key policy issues."
For its part, the BCTF executive committee is recommending ratification.
BCTF president Susan Lambert adds in a statement however, that the federation was "compelled into this process under threat of huge fines and further punitive legislation."
Abbott says both the federation and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association will advise members about the agreement and a date for a ratification vote in the days ahead.
Abbott says the agreement is set to expire on June 30, 2013.
“We have been able to achieve some modest improvements but, above all, we succeeded in getting government take its concession demands off the table,” said Lambert in a statement.
“We’ve concluded this agreement in order to prevent government from imposing a contract that would further erode teachers’ hard-won rights and do more harm to students’ learning conditions.”
News from © The Canadian Press, 2012