Teachers seek more money, fewer students

B.C. teachers say class size improvements and wage increases are the major issues for them in upcoming contract talksissues which could have them on a collision course with the government.

The 41,000-member B.C. Teachers' Federation said British Columbia has dropped to eighth in Canada when it comes to teachers' salaries.

The government has previously said it has zero dollars to offer the teachers in the new contract.

Federation president Susan Lambert said Monday the union has yet to calculate its wage demands, but acknowledged the teachers and government are "some distance apart."

'What we have now is tens of thousands of overcrowded classrooms.' BCTFpresident Susan Lambert

"We believe teachers deserve salaries commensurate with teachers in other provinces," she said at a press conference at the federation's annual meeting in Victoria.

She highlighted wage differences between teachers in British Columbia and Alberta as examples of how far B.C. teachers have fallen behind.

First contract for Clark

"A beginning teacher working in Golden, B.C., right now, right on the B.C.-Alta. border makes almost $10,000 less than a beginning teacher in Banff, Alta.," said Lambert. "An experienced teacher in Banff, Alta., earns more than $16,000 a year more than a teacher with the same credentials in Golden."

She said Alberta teachers will receive a negotiated 4.3-per cent wage increase in September.

The B.C. teachers' contract, which expires on June 30, is the first major public sector bargaining to be undertaken by the government of new B.C. Premier Christy Clark, whose tenure as Liberal education minister almost a decade ago saw tense relations with the teachers' union.

Lambert said almost 97 per cent of teachers believe improvements to class size and composition are also key issues for their next contract.

"What we have now is tens of thousands of overcrowded classrooms," she said. "The system needs attention. The end result is we want smaller classes with more resources for students with special needs."

Lambert said she knows of a teacher with a split Grade 6/7 classroom of 30 students where up to 13 of the students are classified with "individual needs."

She said since 2001, when the B.C. Liberals were first elected, teaching jobs have dropped by 3,000.

Essential service

Lambert said there were 2,595 new students in the province last year, but the number of full-time teaching jobs declined by 283.

No one from the Education Ministry was immediately available for comment.

Labour negotiations have traditionally been acrimonious between the federation and government, with New Democrat, Liberal and Social Credit governments resorting to legislation to end disputes.

The B.C. Liberals passed legislation shortly after their election in 2001 that made public education an essential service and limited the level of job action teachers could take.

In June 2006, teachers accepted the five-year contract that included wage and benefit increases that amounted to about 16 per cent and bonuses worth up to $4,700 each.