The upcoming school year for K-12 students in Prince George is roughly two weeks away, however, our teachers still don’t have a new contract.
Both the province and the BC Teachers Federation held three days of negotiations recently with some progress being made on issues like wages.
BCTF President, Clint Johnston told MyPGNow.com that with the cost of living rising, more protections are needed.
“So, what we are looking for is simply language that ensures our member’s wages will not be effectively cut when there is high inflation. We are looking to ensure that if COVID goes up a lot that we are covered and that we don’t go backward.”
“We also need some significant improvements to our work members’ workload. It’s no different that we are going through a teacher shortage either that was before COVID and has been exacerbated by the pandemic. We need to make sure that when people look at teaching they see a job that they can do that won’t burn them out or have a career in.”
Johnston was also pleased to see a stronger sense of urgency from both sides to begin an open dialogue again following the summer break.
“We came back early this time and I think that is a sign of how much both sides want to get a deal done as quickly as possible. They are at a decent place right now with the talks still moving but we are also clear that there is not enough money there right now. That means we need the government to step up and put more money on the table.”
However, PG District Teachers Association President, Daryl Beauregard stated while the recent talks are encouraging, he would like to see both sides schedule negotiations much sooner in September.
“I am a little bit disappointed that the employer doesn’t want to meet again until September 26th – that’s a lot of time that is lost for negotiating. But, we are keen on making negotiating work at the table.”
Beauregard echoes Johnston’s expectations on teacher workload, especially when it comes to class size and composition.
“Our working conditions, protections, and language haven’t changed in over 30 years so that includes class size and support for vulnerable students. We are working off language that we won back off of the Supreme Court that we had lost for almost 20 years.”
“That’s over a generation of students that we have not been able to in our classrooms respond with the up-to-date support.”
The first day of class for students in School District 57 is September 6th.
Something going on in the Prince George area you think people should know about?
Send us a news tip by emailing [email protected].
