Presidents Council endorses Provincial Framework Agreement

The K-12 Presidents are endorsing the new Provincial Framework Agreement reached last week. The British Columbia Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) also endorses the agreement. Both recommend the agreement be part of local collective agreements.

The Provincial Framework Agreement (PFA) has a 3-year term in effect from July 1, 2022, to June 30, 2025. It includes general wage increases in each year.

• July 1, 2022: $0.25 per hour wage increaseplus an additional 3.24%
• July 1, 2023: 5.5% increase, and up to 1.25%cost-of-living adjustment (COLA). For clarity,the general wage increase will be atminimum 5.5%, to a maximum of 6.75%
• July 1, 2024: 2% increase, and up to a 1%COLA. For clarity, the general wage increasewill be at minimum 2%, to a maximum of 3%
  COLA is according to the BC consumer price index annual average.

The PFA also includes provincial government funding for local bargaining to address local issues. It’s based on full-time enrolled students in districts, with a minimum amount.

• 2022/2023: $11.5 million allocated to schooldistricts, with a $40,000 minimum
• 2023/2024: $13.8 million allocated, with a$50,000 minimum
• 2024/2025: $17.8 million allocated, with a$60,000 minimum

In local bargaining, K-12 locals and school districts will negotiate how to use these funds. The only thing they can’t go towards are general wage increase.

Other highlights of the framework agreement include:

Education

$50,000 per year in 2022 and 2023 for support staff education, with an another $1 million per year beginning in 2024. The joint Support Staff Education Committee (SSEC) will decide on allocating this money.

Workplace violence prevention

A new Provincial Joint Health and Safety Taskforce. Its mandate includes supporting measures to address workplace violence prevention.

Benefits

$3 million in annual funding for potential benefit enhancements. Also, $1 million in one-time funding for addictions treatment support programs.

LIF

In addition to the PFA, the Ministry of Education will be increasing the Learning Improvement Fund to $25 million for the 2023/2024 and 2024/2025 school years. This will allow for more Education Assistant hours across the province.

The K-12 Presidents Council recommends the framework agreement for local bargaining proposals. PFA provisions come into effect when part of a ratified local collective agreement, with general wage increases retroactive to July 1, 2022. It is local collective agreements that members of K-12 locals approve and ratify. Local bargaining needs to completed and ratified byJanuary 25, 2023. The complete Provincial Framework Agreement is available on at bcschools.cupe.ca. Please direct questions on the PFA and local bargaining to your local executive.

Presidents Council Endorses Provincial Framework Agreement

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Burnaby – A tentative provincial framework agreement has been reached between the unions representing B.C.’s 40,000 school support workers and the British Columbia Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA).

“Our bargaining committees worked hard to reach this tentative agreement,” says Paul Simpson, president of the K-12 Presidents Council. “Working together, we were able to reach an agreement that recognizes the vital role our members have in providing this province’s students the highest quality of education in healthy schools.”

Further details on the tentative agreement will not be made public until presented to K 12 school support members. Once endorsed by the K 12 Presidents Council, the 3-year provincial framework agreement (PFA) will form the provincial agreement portion of proposals that will go forward in local bargaining between local unions and their respective school districts.

The K-12 Presidents Council represents locals in school districts across British Columbia. These locals represent approximately 40,000 school support workers including: education assistants, school secretaries, custodians/caretakers, Indigenous support workers, child/youth/family support workers, IT workers, library technicians, Strong Start facilitators & early childhood educators, trades & maintenance workers, and bus drivers.

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For more information:

Greg Taylor
CUPE National Communications Representative
604 842-7444

From https://www.cupe.bc.ca/2022/09/16/school-support-workers-reach-tentative-deal-with-bc-public-schools/

Statistics Canada reports that the average hourly wages index has increased on a 12-month rolling averaged basis since August 2021 to August 2022 by 5.4%.  That means wages in Canada have gone up by an average of 5.4%.

Your bargaining committees and negotiators are keeping track of developments like this in order to achieve the best possible outcomes at the negotiating table.  As a member, steward or ally, we ask that you support the Union, contact us if you have questions, and kindly refrain from making derogatory or negative comments that harm our solidarity or common aims.  Come back often to this page for updates.

CUPE Local 389 is entering negotiations for all our collective agreements, beginning with the District of North Vancouver.  District members are asked to support your bargaining committee, which is comprised of Tony Volpe, Kolton Smith, Sec-Treas Brian Warman, President Yvette Mercier, and staff representative Dan Todd.

Labour Force Survey, August 2022

Released at 8:30 a.m. Eastern time in The Daily, Friday, September 9, 2022

Employment declined by 40,000 (-0.2%) in August, and the unemployment rate rose by 0.5 percentage points to 5.4%.

Employment fell among youth aged 15 to 24 in August, primarily young women, as well as among people aged 55 to 64.

Employment gains in various industries, including “other services” and professional, scientific, and technical services, were more than offset by declines in educational services and construction.

There were fewer public-sector employees in August, while the number of employees in the private sector and the number of self-employed workers held steady.

Employment fell in British Columbia, Manitoba, and Nova Scotia, while it increased in Quebec. There was little change in the other provinces.

Total hours worked were unchanged in August, following a decline in July (-0.5%). On a year-over-year basis, total hours worked were up 3.7%.

The average hourly wages of employees rose 5.4% (+$1.60 to $31.33) on a year-over-year basis in August, compared with 5.2% in both June and July (not seasonally adjusted).

In August, more than 1 in 10 (11.9%) permanent employees were planning to leave their job within the next 12 months, 5.5 percentage points higher than in January 2022 (not seasonally adjusted).

There were 307,000 Canadians in August who had left their job in order to retire at some point in the last year, up from 233,000 one year earlier and from 273,000 in August 2019 (not seasonally adjusted).

The unemployment rate for immigrants who had arrived in Canada within the past five years was lower in August 2022 (7.6%) than in any month of August since comparable data became available in 2006 (three-month moving average, not seasonally adjusted).

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