Kootenay Lake School Board passes cost savings plan motion; bargaining with CUPE Local 748 resumes Dec. 12 & 13

by Nelson Daily Staff on 02 Dec 2013

   CUPE workers hope the recent rally is the last time the membership needs to grab a sign as bargaining is expected to resume. — Photo submitted by Andrew Chernoff

The Kootenay Lake School Board decided to fall in line with the rest of the province, agreeing to pass a motion to submit a cost savings plan to the Ministry of Education during a special open meeting at School District No. 8 office Monday.

The vote, however, was not unanimous as two trustees decided not to support the motion.

The decision does allow the threat of a strike by CUPE Local 748 support workers to be relaxed somewhat as the two sides will now return to the bargaining table next week in an attempt to hammer out the remaining issues in this long standing labour dispute.

“The board’s decision means we can go back to bargaining,” said CUPE Local 378 president Michelle Bennett.

“We’ve been pretty much at a standstill until the board passed the cost-savings plan,” Bennett added.

“And now we’ll be able to go back to bargaining resume talking about our local issues.”

CUPE Local 748 represents all employees in the School District No. 8 except members of the Kootenay Lake Teachers’ Federation and excluded management positions.

School District No. 8 stretches from Yahk in the east to Slocan City in the west, Salmo in the south and Meadow Creek in the north.

The long labour dispute —  School Boards across the province have been without a contact since June 30, 2012 — was hoped to be in its final stage back in September after the CUPE BC K-12 Presidents’ Council Bargaining Subcommittee signed a Provincial Framework Agreement with the BC Government providing a 3.5% wage increase for BC education workers.

The deal was hammered out September 18 in Vancouver.

The tentative two-year deal, retroactive to July 1, 2012, includes a 3.5-per-cent wage increase over the two years — and one percent wage increase on July 1, 2013, two percent on February 1, 2014 and 0.5 percent on May 1, 2014 — introduces a system for up-front prescription costs.

But the government did not provide any additional funds to school budgets to cover costs of the provincial agreement, instead telling boards to find the extra money in savings.

Kootenay Lake was the lone school board in the province that refused to submit a savings plan to the provincial government by the October 15 deadline, with Board Chairperson Mel Joy saying at the time “there is no way that we could rebalance our budgets without affecting services to kids.”

However, the board reconsidered Monday, paving the way for new talks to begin to try to iron out a potential deal.

But the clock is ticking on getting a new deal completed.

“We do back to bargaining December 12 & 13,” Bennett said. “But I’m a little concerned we have enough time to get it all completed because we have to have the deal ratified by December 20.”

Bennett said wage increases and seniority at the local level are the two key issues in negotiations.

Kootenay Lake School Board Chairperson Mel Joy was unavailable for comment at press time.

With reaffirmed strike mandate, CUPE Local 748 wants to work with board towards a fair deal for Kootenay Lake schools

November 26, 2013    http://cupe.bc.ca

KOOTENAY LAKE-Members of CUPE Local 748, education workers of School District 8 (Kootenay Lake) voted to reaffirm their strike mandate over the weekend. 100% of members voting decided that job action is necessary if an agreement with the school district is not achieved. Two rallies are planned for this week; in Creston on Wednesday November 27, and in Nelson on Thursday November 28.

“The major stumbling block has been the School Board’s decision to reject a savings plan impacting jobs, in order to fund the long overdue wage adjustment education workers deserve,” said Michelle Bennett, President of CUPE Local 748. “We hope job action is not required, but we owe it to our students, parents and our communities to be honest and transparent by informing them that there is a real possibility if a settlement with the employer cannot be reached.”

“CUPE Local 748 members understand and live every day  with the challenges school board trustees face as a result of the BC Government’s ‘Cooperative Gains’ mandate and their persistent, chronic underfunding of BC’s public education system,” said Bennett. “Moving beyond this difficult round of bargaining, I look forward to finally working together with other CUPE Locals, teachers, and school districts around the province to ensure our public education system is fully funded so that every student can succeed in schools that clean, safe, and inclusive.”

On September 18th, the CUPE BC K-12 Presidents’ Council Bargaining Subcommittee signed a Provincial Framework Agreement with the BC Government providing a 3.5% wage increase for BC education workers. BC Minister of Education Peter Fassbender required local boards of education to submit a ‘cost savings plan’ to fund the agreement. School District 8 stands alone as the only board to not submit a plan to pay for the wage adjustment.

“I am proud of the trustees of the Kootenay Lake School Board for rejecting the presented savings plan because they understand it would affect core services for students. However, our school district does need to approve a plan – one that does not have an adverse affect on students,” said Bennett. “While Local 748 supports the Board in calling for much needed funding, our first priority is a fair collective agreement. After a settlement is achieved, we hope to work with the Board, parents, teachers and the community in a sustained campaign to pressure the BC government to adequately support BC students.”

Across BC, 21 CUPE Locals have ratified collective agreements settled with their respective School Districts, 17 Locals have reached a settlement and are scheduling ratification votes, and 19 Locals have yet to finalize a settlement.
CUPE Local 748 will be holding two rallies this week calling for “A Fair Deal for Kootenay Lake Schools”:

Creston
Wednesday November 27th
Rally from 3:00-4:00 p.m. MST
Prince Charles Secondary School
223 18th Ave. South Cre­ston B.C.

Nelson
Thursday November 28th
Rally from 3:00-4:00 p.m. PST
Hume Elementary School
310 Nelson Avenue, Nelson B.C.

CUPE Local 748 To Hold Rallies For Public Support In Negotiations With SD#8

Cupe Local 748 members that work for School District #8 are holding rallies in Creston on November 27 and  in Nelson on November 28 to encourage public support in their efforts to achieve a fair and reasonable agreement with their employer.

Come out to one of the rallies and support our Brothers and Sisters in Cupe Local 748. Rally info is below.

 

Kootenay Lake only school district not funding CUPE pay increases

Kirsten Hildebrand – Nelson Star Nov 22, 2013

 

Kootenay Lake school district stands by its inability to meet a provincial directive requiring local funding of CUPE pay increases. They say it can’t be done without impacting core services.— image credit: file photo

Kootenay Lake school board is the last hold out in the province when it comes to approving the CUPE bargaining provincial framework savings plan and that doesn’t sit well with several union members present at the November 19 board meeting.

CUPE workers in the district attended the meeting held at the local board office, some via teleconference from Creston, with interest and apparent frustration asking the board why it was the only district in the province not settling negotiations.

“We’re the only district in the province standing up,” responded acting chair Rebecca Huscroft.

CUPE locals throughout the province are in negotiations with local boards after the province negotiated a wage increase averting a September strike.

The Ministry of Education is asking local boards to find the money within their existing budgets without impacting core services. Kootenay Lake school board is asking CUPE to advocate with them and write a letter to the Ministry.

“For them [the Ministry of Education] to say we can’t cut services to pay for an increase is a bit of a joke,” said Huscroft addressing employees’ concerns. “We are the only district in the province advocating right now and we understand how this must look to you guys.”

Huscroft said trustees value the work of CUPE employees but increases shouldn’t come “on the backs of the board and the district.”

“We stand 100 per cent behind CUPE getting a wage increase,” she said. “But we want to send a message about how do we address reduced funding year after year.”

Natasha Morley, who speaks for the local union, said CUPE is aware of the school board’s request to join them in calling on the government to fund the wage increases and oppose the provincial savings plan requirements.

“CUPE and CUPE locals are on record as supporting full funding from the provincial government for CUPE wage increases,” she said. “Our commitment to full funding is not in question. However, our priority is a collective agreement for Local 748 members that includes the provincial framework agreement. We will not waver from that.”

The tentative provincial framework agreement included an end rate 3.5 percent wage increase over two years. The agreement provides a one per cent increase retroactive to July 1, two per cent on February 1, 2014, and 0.5 per cent on May 1, 2014.

Once settlements are achieved, they will be voted on by the memberships of the respective CUPE locals. There are 57 CUPE across BC, representing 27,000 educational support workers. The deadline for ratification of all local agreements is December 20.