Barry ONeill, President of CUPE British Columbia, says that Tuesdays wildcat strike by school maintenance workers in Delta could be the beginning of a new wave of province-wide labour unrest, unless school districts obey the binding recommendations of Commissioners Irene Holden and Vince Ready.
CUPE education workers accepted a binding arbitration process following last springs strike in B.C. schools, says ONeill. Our members across the province have lived up to their end of the deal and school trustees are long overdue to do the same.
What part of binding dont they understand?
With only a few exceptions, school boards across the province are hiding behind BCPSEA (the B.C. Public School Employers Association) and refusing to do their part to implement the IICs binding recommendations.
Maintenance workers in Delta walked off the job yesterday because their employer is refusing to pay them more than two years of retroactive pay, but this is only the tip of the iceberg.
K-12 workers across the province are getting more and more frustrated with the inaction of their employers. Unless school boards get serious about delivering their end of the deal, this frustration is bound to erupt into further disruption in schools across BC.
CUPE represents more than 23,000 non-teaching staff in B.C. public schools.
For more information:
Barry ONeill, 916-8444
Jim Kirk, 291-1940 or 720-7905