No guarantees ahead of BCTF ratification vote: expert
Posted September 17, 2014 11:29 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – This province’s educators will hold a ratification vote on a negotiated deal tomorrow, but an expert says there’s no guarantee it will get the membership’s approval.
The expectations have been high ahead of the details coming out about this deal, says University of the Fraser Valley professor Fiona McQuarrie, and that could have an effect on teachers willingness to vote yes.
“The teachers, given that the bargaining had gone on for more than a year and a half, have some pretty high expectations at this point, because they’ve sacrificed a lot to get to this point,” says McQuarrie.
Teachers in Saskatchewan have rejected two deals negotiated by their union since last summer.
“It’s not unknown for a tentative deal to be turned down in the membership vote if they don’t contain what the membership was expecting, or if the union itself can’t give a good enough reason for why the agreement doesn’t contain what was expected,” says McQuarrie.
The difference there is that educators are working as negotiations take place.
