Teachers Ratify New Deal

Written by The Canadian Press Saturday, 30 June 2012 05:30 
 British Columbia's 40,000 public school teachers have voted to accept a new contact, bringing an end to a year-long labour dispute that saw teachers reduce service and shut down classes during a brief walkout.  The B.C. Teachers' Federation announced Friday night that its members voted 75 per cent in favour of the tentative agreement that was reached earlier in the week. Turnout was low, at 52 per cent. The contract includes improved benefits and seniority provisions but no wage increases. The employers' association bargained under a provincial government policy that said any wage increases must be offset by concessions elsewhere in the contract. The dispute has overshadowed the entire school year, with teachers refusing to perform certain administrative tasks such as filling out report cards and, in March, staging a three-day walkout. The Yes vote means those disruptions won't affect students when classes resume from summer break in the fall, but that stability may be short lived. The new contract ends in June of next year, just a month after a provincial election, promising to set off a fresh round of what will almost certainly be heated negotiations. The B.C. Teachers' Federation recommended teachers vote in favour of the contract, but the union complained it only agreed to the deal because the province would have otherwise legislated a new contract.