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Happy 145th Canada!
Music with a view
Gorge Tillicum volunteers host the annual Canada Day bash along the Gorge Waterway. Page A3
Classical musicians play hits from the 1650s on Mt. Tolmie for a free concert on Canada Day. Page A9
Friday, June 29, 2012
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Teacher’s contract brings relief, frustration
Tuning into turtles
Greater Victoria union leader opposes deal
Wildlife biologist Christian Engelstoft uses a radio receiver to locate a radiotagged turtle at the Capital City Allotment Gardens in Saanich. Researchers are studying endangered Western painted turtles around Swan Lake in a bid to boost their numbers. See the story on page A5.
Natalie North News staff
While some Greater Victoria board of education trustees are breathing a sigh of relief over the tentative collective agreement reached between B.C. teachers and the province on Tuesday, others, such Inside as the president of the ■ Teachers sue Greater Vicgovernment for toria Teachdamages. ers’ AssoPage A3 ciation, are speaking out against the deal. Despite a recommendation of acceptance from the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation, GVTA president Tara Ehrcke isn’t voting in support of the agreement with the British Columbia Public School Employers’ Association. “I think (the BCTF) was concerned that the government was planning on legislating the concessions they had on the table and it was nervousness of that impending legislation that probably led to the agreement,” Ehrcke said, noting her decision to vote contrary to the BCTF doesn’t reflect a broader decision made by the GVTA. PLEASE SEE: Teachers, Page A6
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Edward Hill/News staff
UVic unions won’t strike – yet Essential service talks underway through July Kyle Slavin News staff
Despite having issued 72-hour strike notice Monday, picketing members of two CUPE unions at the University of Victoria likely won’t walk off the job until late July at the earliest. “We will be entering immediately into essential services talks, so
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there won’t be any action until the essential services are resolved,” said Loree Wilcox, CUPE national servicing rep. “That will probably take the better part of July.” Locals 917 and 951, which represent 1,500 non-teaching jobs such as tradespeople, food service staff, childcare workers, and office and library staff, have been without contracts since March 31, 2010. Wilcox said the unions and the employer were “too far apart” for the mediator to do any mediating, and that Monday was the right time to issue the strike notice. “It was going to be a long, drawn-
Victoria’s Referred Realtors
out summer, and the discussions around essential services needs to happen. We thought it would be a wise idea to get them done with,” she said. Both sides already agreed this week that essential services are applicable, as the Labour Relations Board (LRB) ruled in 2003 that the university operation is an essential service. Wilcox says the unions and UVic will go through talks to negotiate essential service levels. If they can’t come to an agreement on those levels, it will go to the LRB. “Once that’s done, the locals
will decide from there where they need to go. If that means taking some action, there may be some action,” Wilcox said. “While the (essential service) process is underway, the unions cannot legally initiate a strike or any other job action. Once essential services are finally settled, the unions may initiate job action anytime after another 48 hours has elapsed,” wrote Kane Kilbey, UVic’s associate vice-president of human resources in a bulletin Monday. PLEASE SEE: Raises, Page A13
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