B.C. teachers’ bargaining dates postponed until facilitator available

VANCOUVER – Talks between the B.C. teachers’ union and the government’s bargaining agent have been postponed until a facilitator is available.

The B.C. Public School Employers Association had set Wednesday and Thursday as tentative bargaining days.

Instead, the two sides will meet for three days next week with the assistance of facilitator Mark Brown, and they’ve also agreed to bargain later in the month and in March.

The association’s lead negotiator, Peter Cameron, says the facilitator’s presence is particularly important because of the government’s decision to appeal a court ruling in favour of the teachers’ union.

The B.C. Supreme Court ruling last week awards teachers $2 million over the government’s violation of their previous bargaining rights.

The scathing decision says the government’s legislation introduced two years ago was nearly identical to a law that had already been struck down and that the Liberals’ actions were meant to provoke a strike.