Media Advisory - The Canadian Teachers' Federation applauds BC teachers' call for binding arbitration in BC strike

OTTAWA, Sept. 12, 2014 /CNW/ - The Canadian Teachers' Federation (CTF) supports the call of British Columbia teachers for binding arbitration as a major step towards putting students and teachers back in school while outstanding issues are resolved.  In a vote taken earlier this week by teachers, members of the British Columbia Teachers' Federation, 99.4% voted in favour of binding arbitration to resolve outstanding issues, excepting the class size and composition issue which is already before the courts.  The government rejected the call within one hour.  Binding arbitration is supported by students, parents, school boards, labour groups and much of the general public.

A major issue in the dispute is class size and composition provisions, which create favourable learning conditions for students, and which the Government of British Columbia stripped from collective agreements.  The BC Supreme Court has twice found that the government's actions were unconstitutional and in January 2014 fined the government $2 million dollars.

The Canadian Teachers' Federation is an alliance of nearly 200,000 elementary and secondary educators from 17 organizations (15 Members, one affiliate member and one Associate Member across Canada). CTF is also a member of Education International, a global alliance of educators. Follow CTF on Twitter: @CanTeachersFed and @EnseigneCanada.

SOURCE: Canadian Teachers' Federation

Spokesperson: Dianne Woloschuk, CTF President; Media Contact: Francine Filion, Director of Communications, 613-688-4314 (office) or 613-899-4247 (cell)