B.C. teachers, employers begin talks on Supreme Court ruling

Teachers had their first meeting with their employer Wednesday to discuss the Supreme Court of Canada decision that restores class size, class composition and specialist teacher ratios rules to the teachers’ collective agreements across the province.

Both the B.C. Teachers’ Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association said the discussion went well and will continue with an all-day meeting Friday.

“We left feeling positive and cautiously optimistic about next steps,” said BCTF president Glen Hansman.

The employers association said in a statement on its website that the meeting was a “positive start.”

Thousands of clauses were stripped from teachers’ contracts in 2002, a move the country’s top court has deemed was unconstitutional. The BCTF and the employers association must now determine how to implement the court’s decision.

Hansman said implementation may take some time, so districts can determine what positions are needed to fill the gaps between the 2002 language and what is in place today. They will then post positions, go through an application process and finally fill them.

“This isn’t like flicking on a light switch,” Hansman said.

The implementation may be staged, which could mean adding staff to address classrooms with a lot of students with special needs or making classes smaller for second semester in some high schools, as soon as January or February, Hansman said. He hopes jobs will be posted by Jan. 28 — the 15th anniversary of the stripping of the contracts and the fifth anniversary of Justice Susan Griffin’s decision in B.C. Supreme Court.

Hansman said it may be difficult to find enough qualified teachers for some positions, especially in rural areas or in specialty areas like French immersion, secondary school science or school counsellors.