Monday, March 22, 1999 will be remembered as an historic date for CUPE in British Columbia. Representatives from 44 locals, representing over 16,000 school support staff agreed on the common bargaining issues to take to the first province-wide bargaining table for support staff who work in B.C’s public education system.
“Job security, pay equity and benefits are at the top of CUPE’s school bargaining agenda as we make this historic move to province-wide bargaining,” said chief negotiator Gary Johnson. Speaking to the 160 delegates to the bargaining conference, CUPE-B.C. president Barry O’Neill called on employers to listen to the message from their staff. “It’s time for the bleeding of school support programs for students to stop and that means improving job security for school support staff,” he said.
The K-12 Sectoral Bargaining Committee (SBC) expects to be at the bargaining table in late March or early April.