After more than six months of negotiations, the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association announced on Monday that it has reached a tentative contract agreement with the B.C. Teachers’ Federation.
The BCPSEA, which negotiates on behalf of the provincial government, said in a statement that the deal was struck on Friday.
“Teachers play an incredibly important role in the lives of their students and their communities,” said Leanne Bowes, the association’s executive director of labour relations.
“The dedication of teachers throughout the pandemic has brought much needed support to so many families.”
Negotiations began on March 15 and both sides met a total of 47 times.
The association says the agreement follows the provincial shared recovery mandate, which sets out specific wage increases, offers inflation protection and ensures the government has the resources to protect services and support economic recovery.
None of the details of the agreement have been made public, and the terms won’t be shared until both parties have signed off on the deal.
BCTF teachers, BCPSEA board members and trustee representatives all have to ratify the agreement, which is expected to take several weeks.
The association says in kindergarten to Grade 12 public education in B.C. there are almost 49,000 teachers represented by the teaching federation, teaching 570,000 students in 60 school districts.
Rich Overgaard, a spokesperson for the teachers’ federation, told The Canadian Press that contract talks were held under a media blackout. He said BCTF president Clint Johnston is expected to release a statement soon.