BC teachers to appeal ruling on class size and composition with Supreme Court of Canada

VICTORIA (NEWS1130) – The BC Teachers’ Federation is taking a ruling from the BC Court of Appeal on class size and composition to the Supreme Court of Canada.

The Court of Appeal has ruled the province did not violate teachers’ charter rights, reversing two lower court decisions in favour of a union that has fought for class size and composition clauses in its contracts. Today’s decision was a 4-1 ruling.

Two earlier rulings from the BC Supreme Court said the government infringed on teachers’ rights when it removed their ability to bargain class composition and size with separate legislation in 2002 and in 2012.

The judges point out that the teachers’ Charter rights regarding freedom of association were protected by their ability to consult with the government before that legislation was passed.

The appeal court also released a separate, unanimous decision that ensured that confidential cabinet documents that were revealed in the most recent trial would be kept secret.

A BC Supreme Court judge had ruled that BCTF could share its written submissions, which quoted from the private government documents, with its members, but the appeal court overturned that ruling.

Not every case is heard at that SCOC level though; last year only 10 per cent of applications were granted.

“If the Supreme Court doesn’t hear it then we’ll look at the options and that may be the end of the road on this one. We’re back in collective bargaining in 2019,” says BCTF President Jim Iker. “Depending on how long this takes, if we get leave to the Supreme Court, the decision could take another couple years.”

Iker says the ruling goes too far against workers rights and collective bargaining needs to be about give and take.

“Members expect us to take this further because what we’re talking about is our working and our students learning conditions. It’s about more support for our students protected in our collective agreement.”