B.C. teachers strongly approve new contract with pay boost, added benefits
British Columbia's public school teachers have ratified a new three-year contract.
Nearly 50,000 members of the BC Teachers' Federation were eligible to cast a ballot and a statement from the union says the vote was 94 per cent in favour.
BCTF president Clint Johnston says the union has “achieved some historic gains that will help members who are struggling with the affordability crisis.”
The contract was reached after more than 50 days of bargaining with the BC Public School Employers Association, which negotiates on behalf of the provincial government, and Johnston says the deal will help recruit and retain more teachers.
It boosts annual salaries for new teachers as much as $8,500 by the end of the third year while B.C.'s highest-paid educators will earn up to $13,500 more over the same period, which Johnston says pushes them above the $100,000-per-year threshold for the first time.
He says the BCTF will now press the government to report publicly about the impacts of an ongoing teacher shortage and take action to “ensure schools are properly staffed and students get the support they need.”
Other improvements in the contract include 10 additional minutes of preparation time for elementary teachers, strengthened heath and maternity benefits and a provincial minimum standard for professional development funding, the union said earlier.
The contract was reached at the end of October and teachers conducted a ratification vote in mid-November.
At the time the tentative deal was announced, the Public School Employers Association said the pact follows the provincial shared recovery mandate, which sets out specific wage increases, including inflation protection, while ensuring the government has the resources to protect services and support economic recovery.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 1, 2022.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.