The K-12 provincial bargaining committee met with their counterparts from the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association this week to begin negotiations for a new Provincial Framework Agreement.
Talks began with your provincial bargaining committee tabling a comprehensive set of proposals. With guidance from K-12 locals and the provincial bargaining survey, the union’s proposals covered a wide array of issues, with focus on four key areas. They include fair wages, increased hours, securing public child care work for our members, and addressing violence experienced by school support workers.
This first bargaining session – a 3-day meeting in Burnaby – was positive and cordial. Your bargaining committee voiced a commitment to working cooperatively with public school employers in strengthening B.C. public schools. Your committee was clear with BCPSEA: school support workers need better support to keep providing the services BC students depend on and deserve. These workers also deserve to earn a fair wage to live in the communities they serve.
The bargaining committees are scheduled to meet again in May and June. The K-12 bargaining committee will be sending out regular bulletins as negotiations progress. Watch for them at bcschools.cupe.ca, our Facebook page @cupek12bc, and directly from your local.
Learn more about the K-12 sector bargaining process in B.C.
View PDF
After months of training, research, consultations and discussions, the K-12 provincial bargaining committee is ready to head to the table. Today, the K-12 Presidents Council gave its overwhelming endorsement to the bargaining committee’s proposals and priorities for a new provincial framework agreement.
Guided by the results of the provincial bargaining survey, the top bargaining priorities will be:
- Fair wages that recognize the value of B.C.’s over 30,000 school support workers.
- Increased hours of work available to school support workers so they can make enough to live in the communities they serve.
- Securing public child care in our public schools.
- Addressing the rising violence against school support workers in their workplaces.
Bargaining for the next Provincial Framework Agreement will begin April 14, 2025, with a 3-day meeting between the K-12 provincial bargaining committee and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association. Additional bargaining dates have been scheduled in May and June. Collective agreements for K-12 sector locals in B.C. expire on June 30, 2025.
The bargaining committee will be sending out regular bulletins as negotiations progress. Watch for them at bcschools.cupe.ca, directly from your local, and on Facebook @cupek12bc.
Learn more about the bargaining process for K-12 school support locals in B.C.
Over 4000 education workers in the Alberta K-12 public school system are on strike. These CUPE members are fighting back against years of provincial governments mandated wages that have left K-12 workers struggling to get by.
So far, nine CUPE locals across the province are on the picket lines. The members represented by these locals have seen their wages lag further and further behind inflation. With over a 10 percent vacancy of school support jobs in the province, the low-wages and poor working conditions have made recruiting and retaining staff a challenge for Alberta school districts.
CUPE education workers are standing up for themselves, and the students and families that depend on them every school day. They are standing up for better supports for better Alberta schools. And they need our support to keep standing strong.
We are urging our B.C. K-12 locals to write letters of support to our friends and fellow school support workers on the picket line in Alberta and consider donating to their strike support fund.
Please send a message to our Alberta friends – B.C. has got your back!