Bargaining Obstacle: E80
Despite his renown as a mediator who can get two sides to compromise, Mediator Vince Ready recently booked out of exploratory talks with representatives of government and teachers, saying that the situation was an “impasse.” So why are negotiations still stuck?
One of the biggest sticking points is the E80 clause the government introduced at the bargaining table. The Minister of Education, Mr. Fassbender, calls it a negotiating tool and a process for dealing with class size issues. We see it differently.
It’s really like a “get out of jail free” card. If E80 were accepted, it would simply put the existing funding into the new contract. The fund is currently called the Learning Improvement Fund or LIF. The government has stated they will not increase LIF to provide better supports for students. The $75 million per year, shared around the province, is not adequate.
Worse yet, it would replace any and all previous clauses dealing with class size. The effect would be to wipe out two supreme court decisions in the teachers’ favour. The government wants to negotiate around past and future court decisions. Is it any wonder that teachers, concerned parents and citizens find this unacceptable? Why can the government disregard the courts and believe itself to be above the law?
To sum up, E80 would… see NO increase in funding to address very real class size and composition issues exempt the government from all past and future consequences of tearing up contracts, being in contempt of the court decisions and violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
By putting up barricades designed to prevent an agreement, the government makes it clear that once again, it wants to prevent a settlement while publicly pretending to bargain.
Something to ponder . . . $40 per day per child . . . times . . . let’s say 304,000 qualifying children . . . that’s over $12 million a day. Maybe that money should instead go into the system to help end the impasse, have everyone back to school and establish better supports for all children in the classroom.
Sylvia Slater
President – South Okanagan Similkameen Teachers’ Union