B.C. government proposes giving teachers right to strike to secure 10 year deal

VANCOUVER – B.C.’s education minister is proposing to give teachers back the right to strike with legislative amendments planned for the next time the legislature sits, part of an effort to reach a 10-year contract agreement.

In a letter to school board chairs and superintendents Wednesday, Education Minister Peter Fassbender says the amendments will reflect what he says are “innovations,” including allowing teachers to negotiate directly with the government.

In the past, the B.C. Teachers Federation has negotiated with the B.C. Public School Employers association, which has acted for boards of education, but Fassbender announced Wednesday that group has been pushed aside.

In January, Premier Christy Clark promised her government would make an effort to secure lasting peace with a long-term contract agreement and a promise to attempt to reach a 10-year agreement with teachers was part of the Liberal’s election platform.

Right after Fassbender was appointed minister in June, he wrote to the teachers saying innovations in the new approach would include giving them the right to strike, a right the union lost after the Liberal government came to power in 2001.