The BC Public School Employers' Association (BCPSEA) board of directors has ratified another set of two-year collective agreements for support staff in seven school districts under the government's 2010 net-zero mandate.

The collective agreements were reached through collaborative discussions between the BCPSEA, the accredited bargaining agent for the province's 60 public boards of education and union bargaining teams representing K-to-12 support staff in December 2011. As agreements are ratified, bulletin updates will be provided in the coming weeks.

These settlements under the provincial Framework Agreement cover approximately 5,022 employees working in school districts in British Columbia:

• 5 (South East Kootenay) and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE)
• 23 (Central Okanagan) and CUPE
• 37 (Delta) and CUPE
• 39 (Vancouver) and CUPE 15
• 51 (Boundary) and CUPE
• 70 (Alberni) and CUPE
• 87 (Stikine) and CUPE

While there are outstanding agreements still being negotiated with some unions under the 2010 mandate, virtually all of B.C.'s public sector collective agreements covered by the 2010 mandate are now settled for two years of net zero.

Those agreements expiring in 2012 will be negotiated under the Cooperative Gains Mandate. Government has been clear that there is no new money to fund wage increases and it won't download those costs onto families or future generations. Cooperative Gains gives public sector employers the ability to look for operational savings that may be applied to wage increases as long as services are maintained and costs are held to existing budgets.

There are about 300,000 unionized workers employed in the public service, at Crown corporations and agencies, and in the K-12, post-secondary, health and community social services sectors. An increase of one per cent in total compensation for all unionized public sector employees would cost the Province approximately $196 million each year. If applied to non-union and management groups, this increases to about $237 million annually.

Learn More:

Updated bargaining information is available at:

http://www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/psec/

Media Contacts:

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Finance
250 356-2821

Government Communications and Public Engagement
Ministry of Education
250 356-5963