Veteran mediator Vince Ready is making himself available in an attempt to end the acrimonious dispute involving British Columbia’s public school teachers.

A joint statement from the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association says Ready met separately with the parties on Wednesday and has indicated his availability this week and later in August.

Ready has been working in mediation for more than 30 years and has worked on more than 7,000 labour and commercial disputes in Canada.

The union says Ready will monitor the situation and has agreed to resume exploratory talks, or even full mediation if he believes it will be productive.

Both the employer and the union have agreed to shut down public discussion pending further talks with Ready.