With the Saanich School District and CUPE 441 still at an impasse, the schools in District 63 will remain closed on Tuesday, Nov. 12 2019.
Over the weekend, officials from both the Union and the School District traded barbs and blame in a proverbial he-said-she-said back-and-forth.
“At this point we are hoping the CUPE members will take another look at the offer that the board has made,” said Elsie McMurphy, Vice-Chair of the Saanich Board of Education. “It is certainly one of the best possible offers in the province.”
Dean Coates, President of CUPE Local 441, said the fault lies with the District. “Just as you we have children here,” said Coates. “We’re just as worried about their education, but we’re frustrated with this employer for wasting opportunities to meet, to negotiate, to find a settlement, especially over this long weekend, this would have been the perfect opportunity, but the employer is refusing to even answer our emails.”
“No that’s not true,” McMurphy said. “We’ve not been invited back to the table, we’ve been hoping to hear from CUPE, we’ve told them we’re willing to come back at any time, we have to respect the mandate we’ve been given, but we’re certainly willing to look at anything within that framework.”
Last week, union members rejected the latest contract offer by the district, saying it did not adequately meet their needs, however after Coates called upon the province to provide additional funding, the province responded that it would not be providing any more funding.
The strike over support-worker wages began Oct. 28, closing fourteen schools and impacting nearly 8,000 student across Saanich, Central Saanich, North Saanich and Sidney.
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