Court Case Update

Teachers are celebrating today’s ruling by the BC Supreme Court, which found that provincial legisl...

Monday, January 27, 2014

Teachers are celebrating today’s ruling by the BC Supreme Court, which found that provincial legislation limiting teachers’ bargaining rights is unconstitutional and ordered the province to pay $2 million in damages.

“Children who were in Kindergarten when those bills were passed are now in Grade 12. Thousands of these students couldn’t get the services they needed because government broke the law,” said BCTF President Jim Iker.

The legislation removed guarantees of smaller classes, support for students with special needs, and services from teacher-librarians, counsellors, and other specialists. Government cut hundreds of millions of dollars a year, forcing the closure of 200 public schools and elimination of 3,500 teaching positions.

“Now we expect government to do the right thing: Restore our smaller classes, rehire our specialist colleagues, and help us rebuild the excellent public education system that British Columbians expect for their children,” Iker said.