Students back to school Monday after union ratifies B.C. settlement

VICTORIA – A strike that kept students in the Victoria area from classes for three weeks is over after union members voted to accept a contract agreement reached over the weekend.

Support workers, including education assistants and custodians at 18 schools in the Saanich district, were on strike over wages since Oct. 28, leaving about 7,000 students out of class.

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 441 president Dean Coates says CUPE members will be back in classrooms as schools reopen Monday morning.

Coates did not provide many details about the deal, but says the union and school district were able to come significantly closer to wage parity within the region.

Coates says in a union news release the agreement includes general wage increases of two per cent in each year of the three-year contract.

He says the union represents 500 workers in the school district.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 17, 2019.