EDITORIAL: Bullheaded government needs to negotiate with teachers

It’s time fairness returns to the provincial government. Collective bargaining is the process by which wages, terms of employment for all members of a bargaining unit are negotiated between the union and an employer.

In the case of the B.C. government versus the B.C. Teachers Federation, it appears no real bargaining or negotiating is taking place.

Education Minister George Abbott admitted government has uttered the term “net zero” mandate “probably a thousand times” in the last year. How is that bargaining in good faith?

Government says it’s not just teachers that are subject to this totalitarian mandate, but all public servants.

This, against the backdrop of negotiations between unionized city workers and local governments like Richmond, where workers have been without a contract since the end of 2011. Municipal workers are seeking deals similar to other CUPE contacts, such as Courtenay’s, where a four-year deal granted workers with wage hikes of 2, 2, 2.75 and 2.25 per cent.

During the last round of negotiations, municipal workers in Richmond achieved a wage increase of 17.5 per cent over five years.

Not bad when the following year, the world plunged into recession, which caused many elsewhere to lose their jobs.

That said, giving in to the teachers’ wage demands that amount to 16 per cent over three years (according to Abbott) is not only unlikely, it’s irresponsible given the economy’s relative fragile state.

But suggesting there is no room to move—and no chance for negotiations—is sending the wrong message to the public and those responsible for much of our children’s learning.

Government rhetoric is suggesting to all of us that its mind is made up on such matters and nothing—collective bargaining be damned—can change its mind. As BCTF president Susan Lambert said, “The net-zero mandate will not find a deal.”

Settling public sector contracts is never easy, particularly those with teachers, who are now used to being legislated back to work when taking strike action. But a bullheaded government won’t lead to a solution.

In the centre of this dispute is our children. What sort of lesson are they learning here? One can hope by the end of this, they’ll learn about negotiating, consensus and good faith.