The teachers vote and BC nurses union are dropping a big statement today at 11am as well..

What is interesting is what the last June LRB decision (http://www.lrb.bc.ca/decisions/B104$2014.pdf) on the strike/lockout says in par 8:
“I note that the Employer has stated its willingness to ARBITRATE this matter.” Now the government has changed her mind and is not willing to go to “a r b i t r a t i o n” on other wage issues.

The BC LRB decision was based on BCTF’s application to the board after the government’s BCPSEA lockout of May 26, 2014. It concluded that the government’s BCPSEA lockout is not in breach of the LRB code and “the BCTF is free to engage in strike activities”.

What is interesting is what the last June LRB decision on the strike/lockout says in par 8:

“I note that the Employer has stated its willingness to ARBITRATE this matter.” Now the government has changed her mind and is not willing to go to “a r b i t r a t i o n” on other wage issues.

The BC LRB decision was based on BCTF’s application to the board after the government’s BCPSEA lockout of May 26, 2014. It concluded that the government’s BCPSEA lockout is not in breach of the LRB code and “the BCTF is free to engage in strike activities”.

Thirteen B.C. union leaders wrote Premier Christy Clark on Tuesday urging the government to accept the BCTF’s proposal to end the impasse with binding arbitration.

The BCTF is bankrupt of funds, ideas, and leverage. The rank and file are just hoping to be legislated back to work, so they can save some face.

The BCTF and Iker are grasping at straws. The government has already ststed they will not be handing over such a large part of the BC Budget over to a third party.

Posted on Wednesday, September 10, 2014 @ 8:05 AM by JohnnyBelt

The BCTF and Iker are grasping at straws. The government has already ststed they will not be handing over such a large part of the BC Budget over to a third party.

Stay tuned Johnnybelt. We love your opinion. Very informative.

happy13,
“very informative”???
Someone writes some comment that you agree with and that’s “very informative”?

I believe that one of the big mistakes that the BCTF made was to agree to not bargain more publicly.
Secrecy is what the Liberals thrive on.
It appears that the sticking point is clause E80 despite the gov’t rhetoric.
And JohnnyBelt, one can only marvel at how you support the Liberals like a good fan supports his hockey team:
no matter what the do wrong, defend them.

To me the Liberals’ track record makes them untrustworthy. BC Rail and the $6,000,000 hush money payment should at least cause you to pause for someone so well informed.

interesting karrman, one can only marvel at how you support the BCTF/NDP like a good fan supports his hockey team: no matter what they do wrong, defend them!

I’m curious at what the teacher’s vote would be if they were to vote on whether or not to return to work while negotiations/bargaining continue? The BCTF instead choses to ask it’s membership to vote on whether or not they support binding arbitration, knowing full well that the Government is not going to go there!

Seems like this vote is just another pointless exercise being conducted by a rather pointless Union!

I might be wrong, but the way I read happy13’s comment (“Stay tuned”), it was like they had some sort of inside knowledge. I do not have inside knowledge, other than what I read quoted in the news. I am just a taxpayer caught in the middle.

You’re right Hart Guy, I believe the BCTF more than the Liberals or the NDP. And you’re wrong if you think that because I believe the teachers are right in their stand against the Liberals that I support the NDP.

Two losses in court? How did the gov’t put itself in that position, regardless of what Glen Clark did?

Back to the arbitration subject. Here is the full par 8 of the Labour Relations Board (LRB) decision in 2014:

8 The Board’s role is to address the terms and conditions of the collective
agreement with respect to work designated as essential: see Section 73(2) of the Code. As stated above, the strike and the lockout activities that the Employer says give rise to the 10% reduction are not covered by the designations in BCLRB No. B74/2014. I note that the Employer has stated
its willingness to arbitrate this matter. This is not an arbitrable difference arising out of the current designations in BCLRB No. B74/2014;
however, the BCTF and the Employer are free to submit this matter to third party resolution if they so decide.

Let’s go to arbitration to resolve the issues and let all teachers go back to school now.

How naïve. This is about the taxpayer retaining some say over where a third of the budget will be spent, while also maintaining, however miniscule, a say over the delivery of education to OUR children.
At least at the ballot box we can still effect change if we become dissatisfied with the delivery of education in this province. If the BCTF has its way, lowering the standard of education to better reflect the capabilities of incompetent teachers, we will be saddled with a taxpayer’s nightmare…but an arts degree recipient’s nirvana.

Karmann: “Two losses in court? How did the gov’t put itself in that position, regardless of what Glen Clark did?”

Remember, Glen Clark was the government. He was the one who gave the government’s ability to set education policy away in 1998.

Oh please..30 years with but one negotiated settlement. Teachers depend on the government telling them how much to earn. Their union leadership is simply for blowing sunshine up their wazoo’s. It makes the koom-by-ya sessions we grant them 3 times a month so much more groovy.

==>prof

The key statment is “willingness to arbitrate THIS MATTER”. The case before the LRB at that time was concerning the 10% pay reduction because the teachers were not doing all the work they were being paid for. It was not arbitrable as the employer was correct under the terms of the contract.

Maybe by October 1st the tf will return to the table and bargain in good faith for the teachers. There will be a price to be paid for Iker and company at the next convention of the BCTF, lots of disatisfaction with them behind the scenes even though they will try to present a united front till they are back at work.

LRB ===>

“H O W E V E R, the BCTF and the Employer are free to submit this matter to third party resolution if they so decide.”

Considering that mediation failed, the only venue to third party resolution is arbitration now, IF BC government follows on BCPSEA’s expressed willingness on the LRB issues and
now expresses “willingness to arbitrate”.

“however, the BCTF and the Employer are free to submit THIS MATTER to third party resolution if they so decide.

THIS MATTER= the 10% reduction in pay. That is what was before the LRB and that and that alone was what the ruling dealt with.

Just because the ruling contains the word arbitrate does not mean that it has any bearing on stalemate months later.

Three decades of the same old crap every time the tf sits down at the bargaining table is enough. They obviously have not learned anything from watching how others manage to sign on the dotted line, maybe they will pay attention as the bank accounts drain and the bills pile up. Time for the silent majority of teachers to step to the fore and elect someone to head the tf that is not bat**** crazy.

I pointed out that THIS MATTER in LRB ruling could have gone to arbitration and BCPSEA has expressed willingness on that specific issue. Now BCTF is asking the government’s BCPSEA to go to arbitration on wages and benefits. … (some of core issues of strike) and putting on the table the additional offer of an end to the strike if BCPSEA expresses “willingness to arbitrate”.

Currently Cameron in BCPSEA is the main barrier to reopening the schools by mot accepting arbitration.

Iker and co. are currently the main barriers to opening the schools by not reducing their outlandish demands and accepting mediation.

JB they did accept mediation. They asked for binding arbitration ( a mediator does that) right now they are supposedly 400 million apart. The government stole double that plus from ICBC coffers. So if they come to the middle. That’s 200 mill. That still gives the government 700 mill they stole from ICBC to waste. Problem solved

Remove Cameron from BCPSEA and put another person who is ready to go to arbitration. Problem solved.

It is time for Iker to put on big boy pants and sit at the adults (bargaining) table and quit acting like a spoiled brat for not getting exactly what he wants.

The tf knew full well that today’s vote was pointless, they had already got a clear NO on arbitration from the minister. Iker has clearly painted himself into a coner and will even try a half baked idea like this vote just so it seems like he is actually doing something-anything.

Remove Jim Iker and put another person in who is ready to negotiate with or without Vince Ready’s help. Problem solved!

3 decades of the same old same old from the tf shows they are the problem.

A good example of how out of touch with reality the tf is would be the signing bonus offer that expired June 1st. The offer from the employer was $1500 if a deal was signed by the deadline, the tf counter with a demand for not double, not triple but almost three and a half times what the other side had put on the table. Huh?

I think the cookies in the tf meeting rooms have been imported from Colorado or Washington state.

Negotiating did not work, mediation did not work, arbitration is not going to happen, so clearly the only way to solve a billion dollar problem is paper/scissor/rock…

Isis if the tf is on funky cookies then our government must be on heroin for their thought process

So over the last 10 yrs this government has lost over 2 billion in revenues from bc ferries. If it weren’t for the govs incompetence they would have lots of money to spend on education.

The BC government needs to accept the arbitration offer now because the universities in BC will be affected too. UBC, UNBC and other universities have a big stake in the issue as “56 per cent of UBC incoming first year class was admitted from B.C.”, according to Andrew Arida, Director of Undergrad Admissions at UBC. That matches with my earlier estimate of affecting enrollment of UNBC (by 10-12% decline) if the full year is cancelled.

The new UNBC president has another crisis on his plate. UBC for example is planning to fall back on Grade 11 marks to make the initial offer of admissions for its admission deadlines.

Sorry prof, but the government will legislate the teachers back to work before they agree to arbitration. Arbitration only benefits the BCTF.

I call your bluff prof. If Iker only wants the issue of wages and benefits arbitrated then why not just settle that before the mediator and go back to work? He says they are only 1 percent apart on wage issues so why not drop the other issues for now and bring in Vince Ready to mediate the wage issue? Arbitrators can ignore any instructions given which is exactly what happened with doctors and why you had to pay extra PST for a while to pay for it.

They want the government to drop E80 (they already formally dropped E81) You can read it here:
http://www.bcpsea.bc.ca/bc-teachers/teacher-collective-bargaining.aspx

E80 is adding 25% to the LIF for the term of the contract, which now has 4 years left of the 5 year contract BCTF is asking for. It has been reported by the media that BCTF wants to front load the wage increases and BCPSEA wants to back load it but if you read the proposals both are at 3% for 2014/15

BCPSEA wants them to drop U72 and U73 where BCTF claims victory and seeks a grievance fund of ‘X’ dollars regardless of the outcome of the appeal and sets a new workload fund of ‘X’ dollars also regardless of the outcome. Think they are using ‘X’ dollars so they can change the amount they are asking without sending the BCPSEA notice, currently in the media it is 125 million grievance and who knows how many million workload last number was 225 million and some have floated 150 million. Iker says it is only going to cost the government 300 million more than they are offering or only 3 dollars per child per day.

Benefits include a 100% top up of any money from EI in relation to parental leave including waiting period. Dropped fertility treatments from 40,000 to 30,000 lifetime. And although Iker says it is gone U65 still states 3,000 massage services if prescribed (per year) on top of 700 for each Naturopath, Chiropractor, Massage therapist, Physiotherapist, Psychologist and Acupuncture. Guess Iker forgot to send in a revision of his current proposal to the BCPSEA instead of receiving one this time… oops

Interesting that so many are saying that mediation didn’t work! Mediation DIDN’T start!!

Vince Ready had a look at the situation and came to the conclusion that the parties were too far apart for mediation. He did the right thing and got the heck outta Dodge!!

Maybe if the BCTF had presented reasonable requests, maybe things would be different as maybe mediation would have been a possibility!

The BCTF is still living in a dream world! If they would only wake up, then perhaps this “nightmare” could end! Not very likely!!

Johnny belt. You can’t seem to get over Glen Clark. You have never mentioned how Glen Campbell sold this province down the river. BC rail, BC hydro, robbing ICBC. But that’s ok cause you are a here and now guy.

The government is losing it. Several BC School boards are now publicly supporting the arbitration. Apparently, the Government’s BCPSEA is not in sync with the BC school boards which it is supposed to represent in the negotiation process. It is time to fire BCPSEA’s negotiator Cameron and replace the BCPSEA with one representing the collective will of BC school boards.

8, the BCTF also can’t seem to get over Glen Clark as they want to desperately keep the sweetheart deal he gave them.

This is about who sets education policy in this province, the employer or the employees.

Maybe he was smarter than this government. The courts think so. Get over it

The local school boards do not control the purse strings of the province but decide how to spend the money they are given in the most efficient way possible. Because of the close working relationship with the teachers it would be natural for them to back them to some extent but this by no means reflects the mood of the general public.

Why fire Peter Cameron as it it painfully clear to anyone who looks at this in an unbiased fashion that the problem clearly lies with the tf. As a negotiator Cameron has a pile of successful labour agreements with many public sector unions under his belt. In the past 30 years the bctf has a single as in ONE contract without some sort of pi**ing match. This time the employer said enough and rightly so.

To say that the government should roll over and submit to the crazy demands of the tf because of what it might do to university enrollment numbers is perhaps the most assinine statement yet posted on this subject.

If they are legislated back I sure hope it is by extending the previous contract till next June no wage increase,no benefit improvements-status quo, and if a deal cannot be struck in the normal manner by next September extent it for another year, etc. Even the bctf would come to their senses at some point.

The government can simply ask the BC school boards to vote on the binding arbitration proposal this week and the students get back to school next week.

8: “Maybe he was smarter than this government.”

Good one. Do you even know who Glen Clark is?

8: “The courts think so.”

The issue is still in the courts under appeal, although you may not like it. Get over it.

This isn’t a battle, it’s a war. The government won’t chance a third party deciding the outcome. There will be no binding arbitration, regardless of the vote, or support from other unions. As has been stated many times, the issue is who decides education policy, an elected government or a union. The BCTF is broke. They have cried wolf for 30 years. The only BCTF believers left are their members and union activists who believe everything the union’s way is unquestionably the right way. Taxpayers are fed up. Let’s go to war.

Gus got lots of crap for posting too much on this site. FYI Isis has posted 6 times and Johnny Belt 7 times on this topic. Do they get paid by the post?