More than 150 support staff employees in the Fraser Cascade School District will be going into the next three years with a ratified union contract.
The Fraser Cascade School District, the BC Public School Employers’ Association board of directors and CMAW Local 2423 have ratified a three-year agreement to provide a two per cent wage increase to the support staff each year.
The agreement covers workers in a variety of positions — including maintenance workers, custodians and education — and has a three-year term from July 1, 2019 to June 30, 2022.
In addition to the two per cent wage increase, the agreement will also provide “additional local funds negotiated that result in tangible improvements to service delivery,” the province said in a news release.
Requests for more information to CMAW Local 2423 have not been answered, but other unions around the province have received things like a professional development fund for employees; targeted increases for trades, bilingual and first aid staff; monthly collaboration time for EAs; and increased hours for bus drivers on the rotational list to drive for curricular and extracurricular activities.
The three-year agreement falls under a provincial framework, endorsed last year by the Canadian Union of Public Employees presidents’ council and the BC Public School Employers Association’s board of directors.
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The district is one of 25 across the province that have ratified support staff agreements, although many others remain on edge as talks go into mediation or strikes.
In Chilliwack, the board of education and the support staff union agreed to mediation at the end of October. The two sides are set to meet with a mediator on Nov. 5 and 6 to come up with an agreement for the 924 school district employees.
In Saanich, support workers have been striking since Oct. 28, as the local union looks to secure wage parity with other southern Vancouver Island school districts. Now in its second week, the school board has put an offer on the table to apply larger wage increases to education assistants and other clerical, secretarial and school support positions to reduce the difference between school districts.
grace.kennedy@ahobserver.com
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