In December, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing 26,000 members in B.C.’s public school system, reached a tentative Provincial Framework Agreement with the BC Public School Employers’ Association. That agreement (July 1, 2010 to June 30, 2012) was overwhelmingly endorsed by CUPE’s K-12 Presidents’ Council that is made up of presidents from the 55 different locals.
To complete the bargaining process each local union must reach a tentative agreement at their local table by February 29, 2012. The completed local agreement, once ratified by the local membership, will together with the Provincial Framework Agreement, make up each new collective agreement. Since December, several CUPE locals have reached tentative settlements and two have completed the full ratification process.
Locals with ratified collective agreements:
Local 476 – School District 47 (Powell River)
Local 801 – School District 46 (Sunshine Coast)
Locals with tentative agreements:
Local 15 – School District 39 (Vancouver)
Local 173 – SD74 (Gold Trail)
Local 379 – SD 41 (Burnaby)
Local 440 – SD 6 (Rocky Mountain)
Local 523 – SD 53 (Okanagan-Similkameen), SD19 (Revelstoke), SD 67 (Okanagan-Skaha), and SD 83 (Okanagan-Shuswap)
Local 728 – SD 36 (Surrey)
Local 779 – SD 48 (Sea to Sky)
Local 788 – SD 64 (Gulf Islands)
Local 2020 – SD 50 (Haida Gwaii)
Local 2098 – SD 51 (Boundary)
Local 2145 – SD 54 (Bulkley Valley)
Local 2450 – SD 10 (Arrow Lakes)
Local 3523 – SD 23 (Central Okanagan)
Local 3742 – SD 57 (Prince George)
Local 4227 – SD 93 (Conseil Scolaire Francophone)
Local 5523 – SD 22 (Vernon)
Ratification votes for locals with tentative agreements will be set by each CUPE local. Members who want more information about the progress of bargaining or voting should contact their local office.
- For more information of the Provincial Framework Agreement click here or go to www.bcschools.cupe.ca.
Highlights of the deal include no concessions for CUPE, $7.5 million in new, ongoing funding to recognize and correct unpaid work for Education Assistants, $550,000 in new skills enhancement funding, and a wage reopener clause in the event the public sector wage mandate changes over the life of the agreement.