18 schools closed in Saanich as support staff go on strike

Eighteen schools in the Vancouver Islanddistrict of Saanichare closedMonday as supportworkers take strike action.

Teachers are supporting the action, meaning there are no classes for 7,300 students.

Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 441 president DeanCoates said the district had asked his 500 members to reconsider itsfinal offer, but that was rejected on Saturday.

Coates said support workers in Saanichhave lower wages than their counterparts inother area school districts and it's a decades-old problem thatcauses recruitment and retention problems with staff.

"So, we're overworked, postings go unfilled, no replacementsbecause they can't retain them, they go to the other districts," hesaid. "So, we're in a constant state of triage as a result of thelow wages."

District superintendent Dave Eberwein said in an interview Sundaythat the district has offered the union everything possible underthe government-directed mandate of two per cent in each of threeyears.

He said they've also looked for other ways to increase salaries.

"There isn't another support staff offer out there in theprovince that is as good as this one," Eberwein said. "It doesn'tcompletely bridge the wage disparity, but this is step one of twothat we're looking at."

Alternative care for children

The teachers' union has told the district that it will respectthe pickets.Eberwein said they are the telling parents of its7,300 students that they will have to find alternative care fortheir children.

Eberwein said support workers are paid hourly wagesthat are lower than those in other area districts by between 30 cents and$4 per hour becausethe union opted for better benefits decades ago.

He said the jobsthat lag behind in wage are typically inside professions dominated bywomen.

"Both the union and the board agree we need to address thesalaries for education assistants," he said.

On top of the six per cent government mandated increase, they'vebeen able to provide a salary lift for education assistants between10 and 11.7 per cent over three-year term, Eberwein noted.

A 2016 Supreme Court of Canada ruling reinstated class size provisions in B.C., effectively lowering them and creating ashortage of both teachers and educationassistants in the province.

No new negotiations had been planned to between the two sides.

Coates said his membership is passionate about the wage increasebecause the workers need to provide for their own families.

"We are absolutely open to sitting down and having somemeaningful discussions to finally reach an agreement that addressour 40-year need for a wage adjustment."

There are child care facilities in some Saanich public schoolsand Eberwein said they worked out a goodwill agreement with bothunions to allow access to those sites.