British Columbia teachers picket outside a school in Vancouver after going out on strike October 7, 2005. Some 42,000 teachers across the province walked off the job to protest against a government imposed contract and wage freeze.Andy Clark/ Reuters
The possibility of a teachers' strike is already in the air, without a single proposal yet exchanged across the bargaining table.
Although the master contract covering 41,000 teachers does not expire until the end of June, the B.C. Teachers Federation has signalled clear demands for a significant wage increase from a government committed to offering no pay hike at all.
Noting the rocky history of past teacher bargaining, Education Minister George Abbott admitted on Tuesday that a strike is "certainly a possibility."
"There have been three occasions when [teachers]withdrew services and where an imposed solution was brought about [by]the legislature," Mr. Abbott told reporters in Victoria after speaking at the annual BCTF convention. "We hope there won't be a disruption, but there may be."
Mr. Abbott indicated a willingness to discuss other issues such as teaching resources and improving the education system.
He was adamant, however, that the government will not budge from its proclaimed wage mandate of zero and zero over two years - a formula applied to all public-sector employees in negotiations this year.
"That doesn't mean we can't talk about improving the learning environment or teacher satisfaction, but net zero is the order of the day," Mr. Abbott declared.
The BCTF says its members need a good pay increase to catch up with teachers in provinces such as Alberta, Saskatchewan and Ontario, where salaries are much higher.
"Teachers there are being paid way more for doing the same kind of work, yet the cost of living is higher in B.C.," first vice-president Jim Iker said. "We've accepted many zeros since 1995, and nurses settled for three and three. …Zero and zero [for us]is not on."
Mr. Iker said teachers are hopeful the government will change its mind. "Otherwise our salaries will fall even further behind. To retain teachers, the province needs to pay them what they deserve."
B.C. teachers, once ranked third in pay across the country, have slipped to eighth, according to the BCTF, a claim disputed by Mr. Abbott.
"They are probably somewhere between third and eighth. It depends which variables you choose," he said.
Mr. Abbott was the first Education Minister to address a BCTF convention since the Liberals formed the government in 2001. Premier Christy Clark had a particularly frosty relationship with the teachers' organization during her three years as education minister.
Mr. Iker said Mr. Abbott asked for the opportunity to speak "and we felt it was important to have him say a few words."
The minister told teachers there will be "lots of things that will divide us in the weeks and months ahead … no question."
But he also talked about the common goal of improving B.C.'s education system and received loud applause at the end of his speech when he pledged: "My door as the Minister of Education will always be open to [BCTF president Susan Lambert]and it will always be open to you."
Negotiators for the BCTF and the B.C. Public School Employers' Association launched talks on March 1. Their next bargaining session is set for March 31.
Besides the looming confrontation over wages, the parties are also apart even on what to talk about. The BCTF wants far more issues discussed at the local level, while most school boards are opposed to an expansion of local bargaining.
Mr. Iker said the BCTF has not yet decided on its precise wage demands, but the goal is to ensure that pay does not fall further behind that of teachers in other provinces.
"We also want to discuss class size and class composition. This is going to be a challenging round of negotiations, but we are confident."
The teachers' current agreement, a five-year contract that provided a 16-per-cent wage increase, was the first contract reached voluntarily by the parties since province-wide bargaining began in the mid-1990s.