School support staff across B.C. reach tentative five-year contract

VANCOUVER – Education support staff in B.C.’s public schools have reached a tentative contract with the province.

The roughly 34,000 workers, most of them members of CUPE, must still ratify the proposed five-year framework agreement.

The BC Public School Employers Association says the deal runs through to June, 2019 and provides for wage increases in keeping with the province’s economic stability program.

CUPE K-12 Presidents’ Council chairman Marcel Marsolais says, if approved, the agreement improves education for students and benefits the union’s 27,000 members.

He expects more details of the pact could be released after K-12 Presidents’ Council has reviewed it.

CUPE members covered by the agreement include education assistants, school secretaries, caretakers, First Nations support workers, IT workers, Strong Start facilitators, trades and maintenance workers, and bus drivers.