The B.C. Teachers’ Federation has won $2 million in a sweeping court victory against the provincial government over class-size and composition issues.
The ruling by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Susan Griffin restores provisions stripped from teachers’ contracts in 2002 and concludes that the Liberal government twice passed unconstitutional legislation.
Griffin also finds that the Liberals tried to provoke a teachers’ strike two years ago so that it could impose legislation on the union.
“The outcome of this case means that teachers have once again had their right to collectively bargain over their working conditions restored,” Griffin writes.
“They have had certain language returned to their collective agreement retroactively. This does not guarantee that the language is clad in stone, as it can and likely will need to be the subject of ongoing collective bargaining.”
More to come.
