CUPE 847 K-12 support workers in Merritt, Princeton, and Lower Nicola BC, reached a tentative agreement on June 21, following an exchange of proposals and two bargaining sessions.
“I appreciated our whole bargaining committee,” said CUPE 847 President Lynda Hodgson. “We had a lot of ground to cover and we were able to make improvements that will benefit all members.” Hodgson said that a lot of existing contract language had been cleaned up to be gender neutral and to reflect legislative changes over the years.
Members will be voting on ratification on June 25 and 26 in Princeton and Merritt, respectively.
The tentative agreement reached at the local bargaining table will become part of the complete package members will vote to ratify, that also includes the provincial framework agreement approved by the K-12 Presidents Council in September. The current K-12 agreement expires on June 30, 2019. When ratified by CUPE locals and school districts, the provincial agreement will be in effect from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022.
Further details of the tentative agreement will not be available until after ratification by all parties. Ratification is expected to be completed in June.
CUPE 847 members provide a wide variety of services including Education Assistants, Strong Start, Custodians, Bus Drivers, Clerical, and Trades and Maintenance workers.
The local represents approximately 140 members in the Nicola-Similkameen School District (SD58) who support students in Merritt, Princeton, Lower Nicola and surrounding area.
To find out more about CUPE members working in K-12, visit bcschools.cupe.ca.