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Teachers still hoping for independent mediator

Despite the scheduled passing of Bill 22 today, the BC Teachers' Federation is still holding out for the appointment of an independent mediator to help negotiate a deal between the union and their government employers.

"We're still ready and willing to sit down with the employer and/or government in a good faith process to reach a fair deal for teachers that meets the needs of our members and our students that we teach in our classrooms," Jim Iker, the BCTF's head negotiator and 1st vice-president, told The Tyee.

"We've been calling for an independent mediator, and that's what government should have been appointing through the (Labour Relations Board), and had we been given an independent mediator that was able to sit down with both parties without any types of restrictions or terms of reference on what could be dealt with and what can't be dealt with, and I'm confident that a deal could have been reached in terms of dealing with an independent mediator with no preconditions set."

Iker says there's no room for an independent mediator under Bill 22 as currently written, even with Abbott's plan to consult both the teachers' union and the BC Public School Employers' Association (BCPSEA) for a list of possible mediators. With preconditions set by the legislation that forbid a mediator from going outside the lines of the government's net-zero mandate, Iker says he finds it hard to see an agreement being reached by the end of June. Even if a mediator is able to reach an agreement between the two parties, it must still be vetted by the BC Public Sector Employers' Council, he adds.

"We find it hard to fathom how we can reach an agreement where in the legislation it actually restricts the mediator on what they can actually do or can't do or what they can recommend in terms of a settlement package and what's contained in the legislation is the objectives of government in this round of bargaining, and does not contain any of the objectives that we've had in this round of bargaining," Iker says, adding the teachers' have always been willing to be flexible concerning their demands, but the government has not.

A spokesperson for BCPSEA told The Tyee they still prefer a negotiated settlement to a legislated teachers' contract, and that they would negotiate with a mediator in good faith. Iker says it wasn't too long ago, though, that BCPSEA were also asking for mediation.

However the letter, dated February 24, maintains the net-zero mandate must be met for collective bargaining to move forward, with or without a mediator: "It is BCPSEA's belief that in order to reach an agreement with the BCTF the parties need, at a minimum, to accept the net zero mandate and negotiate within that mandate as other public sector unions and employers have done already, including K-12 support staff unions."

Legislation isn't likely to improve the relationship between the BCTF and their employer, however, which has only successfully negotiated a collective agreement once since 1997.

"It definitely continues to hinder that relationship. The government rep at the table a number of months ago stated that BCPSEA's opinion on the net zero mandate and other areas was irrelevant, and they, as far as we know, have not gone to government asking government to revise their mandate because it doesn't meet the needs of K-12 bargaining for teacher bargaining," says Iker.

Katie Hyslop reports on education and youth issues for The Tyee and The Tyee Solutions Society.

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