The British Columbia Public School Employers' Association (BCPSEA) board of directors has ratified two-year collective agreements for support staff in 10 additional school districts under the government's 2010 net-zero mandate, bringing the total up to 52 agreements covering about 26,600 employees.

Negotiated 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. The collective agreements were ratified at the local level in December 2011 and are now being announced as the remaining groups receive final ratification by the BCPSEA board.

The 12 most recent settlements under the provincial framework agreement cover approximately 8,300 employees working in school districts in British Columbia:

• 8 (Kootenay Lake) and Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE).
• 34 (Abbotsford) and the Teamsters.
• 39 (Vancouver) and International Union of Operating Engineers.
• 43 (Coquitlam) and CUPE.
• 54 (Bulkley Valley) and CUPE.
• 59 (Peace River South) and B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union.
• 59 (Peace River South) and Construction Maintenance Allied Workers.
• 61 (Greater Victoria) and CUPE 382.
• 61 (Greater Victoria) and CUPE 947.
• 63 (Saanich) and CUPE.
• 84(Vancouver Island West) and CUPE.
• 91 (Nechako Lakes) and CUPE.

Although outstanding agreements are still being negotiated with 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.

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 will not download those costs onto families or future generations. The new mandate gives public-sector employers the ability to look for operational savings that may be applied to modest wage increases, as long as services are maintained and costs are held to existing budgets.

There are approximately 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, the cost increases to about $237 million annually.

Learn More:

Updated bargaining information is available at: http://www.fin.gov.bc.ca/psec/

Media Contacts:

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

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