Arbitrator Marguerite Jackson weighed in once again on the bargaining impasse between the BC Teachers' Federation and the BC Public School Employers' Association, but both sides are declaring Jackson's ruling a victory.

Shortly after Jackson's decision on the local-provincial split of bargaining issues was released Saturday, September 17, the Employer's Association (BCPSEA) issued a press release with quotes from Chair Melanie Joy stating Jackson had sided with them:

“The BCTF has obstructed the progress of bargaining by persisting in presenting provincial collective bargaining matters at local matters negotiation tables, contrary to the existing agreement on what is known as the provincial–local split of issues,” said Joy. “Arbitrator Jackson issued clear directions to the BCTF in her first two decisions but again, they resisted complying with the arbitrator’s direction. It is time for the BCTF to recognize this final decision and move on with bargaining."

The BCTF says that's not the way the decision -- nor the provincial-local split -- went down. President Susan Lambert says the decision over a split between local and provincial bargaining was made a long time ago, regulated by the Public Education and Labour Relations Act (PELRA), but government kept changing the rules by adding more and more local items to the provincial table. So many items went provincial, Lambert alleges, that some issues fell to the wayside and were never dealt with.

"Last year we went to BCPSEA and we said we want to renegotiate and move more bargaining to local tables, and they refused, they said 'No, you can't do that before bargaining starts, and you can't do it during bargaining," Lambert told The Tyee. Later, when bargaining fell apart and the teachers voted to strike, Lambert says BCPSEA decided to bring in an arbitrator to rule on local and provincial bargaining.

"Went to arbitration and on [August 28], this arbitrator ruled yes, you can renegotiate the split of issues. Not substantive progress of bargaining, but it was in our favour, we can renegotiate the split of issues."

In her initial decision Jackson determined any issues not related to "cost provisions" under PELRA -- salaries, benefits, time worked, and paid leave --could be re-negotiated as provincial or local issues.

The BCTF alleges BCPSEA tried to argue that anything remotely related to these costs should be at the provincial table. Disagreement over this led them back to the arbitrator, who asked the BCTF to make a list of items to be moved from provincial to local bargaining.

BCPSEA, on the other hand, asserts the BCTF were trying to pick apart elements of issues that under PELRA would be bargained provincially, and bring them back to the local tables.

"We went back again to Jackson, she said 'no, you can't. You put forward an item that is designated provincial and you have to bargain it all there. You can't take the issue apart,'" Hugh Finlayson, CEO of BCPSEA, told The Tyee. "That was the final Jackson decision that she made Saturday evening. So as we sit here now, the clarity that sits there goes back to her first decision. You can't unilaterally delegate it to the local tables, and you have to bargain within provincial structures. So it's a bit of a curious construction to suggest that the BCTF has a victory."

The BCTF, on the other hand, finds it hard to believe BCPSEA has won this round.

"The arbitrator ruled that lots and lots could be moved to the local table, if you renegotiated. So again the arbitrator ruled in our favour," says Lambert.

According to the letter issued by Jackson to the BCTF and BCPSEA on Saturday outlining her decision , Jackson determined the issues BCTF outlined as local actually fell under the cost provisions section of PELRA, and therefore should be dealt with provincially. She added, however, that she does not have the jurisdiction to determine where class size and composition, professional teaching staff formula, and mainstreaming/integration should be bargained.

Despite the confusion over who was right and who was wrong, the BCTF are more positive than their employers about the potential outcome of bargaining: "In my view what has happened now is these obstacles BCPSEA has constructed to get in the way of bargaining, and we can today get down to substantive bargaining and start making progress," says Lambert.

"It remains an uphill journey," counters Finlay. "Sure, we've sorted this particular issue out, but you still have the rather large compensation demands sitting on the table, the myriad of leaves, their retirement bonuses, etc., which, as we've calculated, hit around $2 billion. The money is still a hurdle to be cleared."

Katie Hyslop reports on education for The Tyee Solutions Society.