Article content continued

According to an email sent by the BCTF to its members and obtained by Postmedia News, the tentative deal is for three years, retroactive to July 1, 2019.

“Members across B.C. will see salary improvements greater than in previous rounds, and we ensured that the restored collective agreement language was protected,” the email said, referring to class-size limits the BCTF and government have been fighting over for years.

In 2016, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled in favour of the teachers over the former B.C. Liberal government, restoring rules over class size and composition that the government had unilaterally eliminated in 2002.

“We were successful in pushing back on the employer’s attempted concessions that would have weakened or removed existing protections for teachers and students,” the email said. But the email did not go into further detail on class sizes.

In an effort to recognize the recruiting challenges inherent to B.C.’s high cost of living, first-year teachers who are hired on a full-time contract will now start at the second year on the 10-step/year salary grid.

Teachers on the 10th step will get an additional one per cent wage increase in the second year of the deal. There is also the possibility of teachers on the top step getting a further one per cent increase in the third year of the deal. The email calls it a “retention initiative dividend,” in other words an attempt aimed at retaining senior teachers who might otherwise look to move to a higher-paying province.