GOLDSTREAM Aboriginal Day
New celebration for Langford set for Monday Page A11
NEWS GAZETTE
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NEWS: More aboriginal learning in B.C. schools /A7 ARTS: Summer art school revs up in Metchosin /A13 HOMEFINDER: Developer honours veterans /A24
Friday, June 19, 2015
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Teachers union, SD62 at odds over pay issue Sooke Teacher Association claims district owes them more than $300,000 in back pay Mike Davies News Gazette staff
This school year is ending on a more positive note than the last one, when teachers were on picket lines, graduating students worried about finals and grades and some parents scrambled to arrange child care. There’s no absence of tension on some fronts, however, within the Sooke School District. The Sooke Teachers’ Association (STA) has added its voice to a provincial grievance filed by B.C. Teachers’ Federation locals with the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association, disputing pay received for September, when teachers returned to work mid-month. If the BCTF wins its grievance, it could result in an estimated shared payout of up to $350,000 for teachers in the Sooke School District. It is not known at this point how any judgment would financially affect SD62. While the dispute over the partial month’s pay has been ongoing for months in other districts, STA president Ian Johnson says his association only recently joined the griev-
ance, after the union was unable to come to an agreement with SD62 on a payout. “We were led to believe we’d been paid properly,” he says. “We weren’t even aware we’d been short-paid for September until after the trustee election (in November).” The issue, Johnson says, is “having a tremendous impact on labour relations in the district. It’s really difficult to have been told that you’re going to be paid eight days, (but only get paid for 6.3).” The issue stems from the clauses in the agreements between teachers’ associations and their districts that dictate how teachers are paid for partial months worked. In the Sooke district, the pay issue is complicated by the interpretation of the contract wording, which presents two clauses for how to deal with partial-month pay. One formula subtracts days not worked from the monthly pay total, while the other counts days worked and adds them up. PlEASE SEE: Dispute, Page A10
Grizz, Parks and Rec. get ice deal done Don Descoteau/News Gazette staff
Fiery end for classic car Westshore Towing staffers prepare to haul a charred Mercedes convertible onto a flat deck truck in the Loghouse Pub parking lot. An apparent electrical fuse short circuit saw the car engulfed in flames after the driver quickly pulled into the lot. Expectations were that the classic sports car would be written off by ICBC. See story Page A7.
After weeks talking about ice time rates and other aspects of arena lease, BCHL team and West Shore Parks and Rec. reach agreement; story page A3
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