B.C. government says school support staff across the province reach tentative deal

A cleaner helps clean a classroom at a school in Vancouver, B.C. Monday, March 23, 2020. A tentative framework agreement has been reached for 40,000 unionized elementary and secondary support staff in B.C. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward

Victoria -

A tentative framework agreement has been reached for 40,000 unionized elementary and secondary support staff in British Columbia.

The Finance Ministry says the deal is between the Public School Employers' Association and school presidents' councils representing 57 locals of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.

The tentative agreement covers workers in a variety of jobs in the public sector, including education assistants, custodians, maintenance workers and Indigenous support staff in the kindergarten-to-Grade 12 sector.

The ministry says the provincial framework represents one part of local agreements for staff and now negotiations at the district level will get underway.

The deal is part of the government's so-called shared recovery mandate, which applies to all public-sector employers with unionized employees whose collective agreements expire on or by Dec. 31.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees is the largest union representing support staff in the kindergarten-to-Grade 12 sector.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2022.