B.C. government to appeal court ruling that awarded teachers’ union $2 million

VICTORIA – B.C.’s education minister says the province will appeal a court decision that concluded the government infringed on the bargaining rights of teachers.

Peter Fassbender says the B.C. Supreme Court ruling that awarded the Teachers’ Federation $2 million is unaffordable to taxpayers and would create disruptions in schools.

Last week’s decision said legislation that removed class size and composition from contract negotiations was unconstitutional.

But Fassbender says the ruling limits the government’s ability to enact policy.

The law at issue was introduced in 2012 in the midst of heated negotiations with teachers.

A similar law was struck down a year earlier, but the recent ruling says the government then introduced near-identical legislation and bargained in bad faith in an attempt to provoke a strike by teachers.