Possible teachers strike, BCTF contract to expire
Posted Mar 22, 2011 07:13:12 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – With time running out, the BC Teachers Federation and the provincial government remain far apart on wages and class size reductions. The current collective agreement expires at the end of the school year.
Union boss Susan Lambert won’t reveal just how much of a raise the BCTF is after but says teachers in this province have some catching up to do with their out-of-province counterparts.
She points out a beginning teacher in Golden earns $10,000 a year less than one across the Alberta border in Banff.
“At the top of the scale it’s even worse. An experienced teacher in Banff earns more than $16,000 a year more than a teacher with the same credentials in Golden.”
Education Minister George Abbott says the government doesn’t have any new money to offer, and under its current public sector wage restraints a substantial raise isn’t in the cards.
“I have heard no indication from the Finance Minister nor government that there is any disposition to change the net zero mandate for any group, teachers included.”
Teacher wages in BC have fallen from third to eighth place in Canada over the past five years.
