Welcome to the CUPE BC K-12 Presidents’ Council site
The K-12 Presidents’ Council represents 57 CUPE locals in school districts across British Columbia.
CUPE represents more than 30,000 education workers including: education assistants, school secretaries, custodians/caretakers, Indigenous support workers, IT workers, Strong Start facilitators, trades and maintenance workers, and bus drivers.
We strive to protect quality public education for all.
The B.C. government has introduced legislation to empower school districts to expand delivery of childcare on public school grounds.
Last Tuesday, the BCNDP government tabled Bill 19, the school amendment act, that allows school districts to provide childcare to children of all ages, including infants and toddlers. Districts also will be permitted to provide care during non-instructional days, such as professional development days, and winter, spring and summer breaks.
“We are building a seamless childcare system in our province that supports parents from the early years through to graduation,” said Premier David Eby when unveiling the new bill. “Using our existing infrastructure and partnering with school districts is a smart, sustainable solution that puts existing resources to their best use for families.”
Premier Eby specifically singled out the advocacy of CUPE BC and CUPE locals for the expansion of seamless public childcare as a key driver for the new bill.
“Better enabling our public schools to deliver quality childcare, and at all times of the year, responds to a critical need among parents for accessible, trusted care for their kids,” said Karen Ranalletta, president of CUPE BC. “CUPE is enthusiastic to work with government and school boards to realize the publicly delivered seamless before- and after-school care sparked by this legislative change.”
While the legislation does not mandate school districts to provide childcare, if passed the bill will allow districts to add childcare spaces on school grounds, opt into the childcare program subsidies, and recover reasonable costs, similar to how non-for-profit centres operate, to support sustainable programs or expansions of existing programs.
Bill 19 is an important step forward in expanding public childcare. CUPEBC is continuing it’s Seamless Childcare Now campaign calling for all B.C. school districts to offer before- and after- school care staffed by CUPE school support workers. Seamless childcare can provide thousands of much needed child care spaces, and give CUPE members the opportunity to additional hours and higher earning potential.
As part of B.C.’s K-12 Workforce Plan, the Ministry of Education and Childcare released the Education Assistant Competency Framework this week.
The framework outlines the core knowledge and skills needed to be successful in an EA role. It was designed to support future EAs to become job-ready upon graduation. It aims to promote consistency across education programs for EAs in the province.
The competency framework can be used as a guide to develop curriculum for EA education programs, assess student learning, and align training with the skills and knowledge required for success as an education assistant.
While use of the framework is optional, it offers valuable guidance to strengthen EA preparation and support.
CLICK HERE for the Education Assistant Competency Framework
B.C.’s K-12 Workforce Plan
The K-12 Workforce Plan is intended to support all stages of the recruitment and retention continuum, from attraction to the workforce to training, certification, recruitment, retention and recognition.
Representatives from CUPE and other education worker unions, Indigenous organizations, school districts, independent schools, post-secondary institutions, the BC Teachers’ Council and the provincial government have worked together to develop the K-12 Workforce Plan.
LEARN MORE about B.C.’s K-12 Workforce Plan
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about the framework, please reach out to your National Representative or the B.C. K-12 Sector Coordinator.
Your K-12 sector provincial bargaining committee was back at the negotiation table this week. This was our 4th session with the B.C. Public Schools Employers’ Association in this current round of talks towards a new provincial framework agreement.
The two-day session was productive, with us reaching agreement on several non-monetary issues such as safety in the workplace and assisting locals in preventing contracting-out.
Your bargaining committee also presented our monetary proposals to BCPSEA, including our position on a general wage increase.
Rising costs and underfunding have left us all struggling to support students and their families while we are also struggling to support ourselves and our families. We have been clear with the employer — our public schools and school support workers are running on empty.
Your bargaining committee is united in our goal at the table—getting the fair deal we all need and deserve. Our wage and other monetary proposals are fair, reasonable, and comparable with what other CUPE locals have successfully bargained at tables across the province.
While there is still a lot of work for us to do to get a tentative agreement, we are coming to a critical stage. Your continued support is crucial. We encourage you to make sure your contact information is up-to-date with your local, and that you continue to monitor your emails, our Facebook page @CUPEK12BC, and our website bcschools.cupe.ca for updates.
B.C.’s Ombudsperson, Jay Chalke, is investigating concerns of students in public schools being asked or told to not attend schools. The investigation will assess whether these practises are fair for students, particularly those with diverse learning abilities.
The Ombudsperson wants to hear directly from K-12 educators that offer direct support to students – for example, educations assistants, Indigenous support workers, child and family support workers, early childhood educators and Strong Start facilitators, etc.
As frontline workers who students depend on for support every day, your input will be very important to the Ombudsperson’s investigation.
They want to hear from you about:
The Ombudsperson is asking K-12 school support workers to complete an online questionnaire.
CLICK here for the education professionals questionnaire
The Questionnaire is voluntary and confidential. It should take about 10 minutes of your time, and you can skip questions or stop at any time. You can also participate by calling the Ombudsperson directly at 1-800-567- FAIR (3247) or visit bcombudsperson.ca.
Your responses are confidential. The Ombudsperson will not share your name, your identity, or the identity or any students you mention with the Ministry of Education, any school district, or anyone else.
Under section 16 of the Ombudsperson Act, you are protected from retaliation for participating. If you believe you’ve faced negative consequences because you took part in this questionnaire or shared information with the Ombudsperson, you are asked to contact their office at 1-800-567- FAIR (3247).
This is an important opportunity to share your experiences, insights and expertise. As frontline workers your input is crucial. Among other things, the questionnaire asks school support workers:
We know you have invaluable insight into these questions. We are encouraging you to participate today.
The Ombudsperson also wants to hear directly from students and families.
We want to welcome everyone back for another school year. We hope you all had a good summer and had a chance to refresh. We can expect the coming year to be a busy one—not just in our schools, but at the bargaining table.
Collective bargaining
As you’ll remember from the last update in June from your provincial bargaining committee, the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (“BCPSEA”) presented an opening wage offer to CUPE members in the K-12 sector.
This was the employer’s first offer and we do not accept it. The offer falls far short of recent wage settlements reached by CUPE locals across our province and does not meet the needs of our members. Our members need a fair wage increase that keeps up with the rising costs of groceries and other essentials in B.C.
Your Provincial K-12 Bargaining Committee will continue negotiating at the bargaining table towards an agreement that addresses the bargaining priorities of our members. We have another bargaining session scheduled September 22nd & 23rd with BCPSEA. We will provide an update after this session.
Several provincial employers in other sectors have presented opening monetary offers at their bargaining tables over the past few months. Overall, our fellow public sector unions have also rejected these opening offers. And as you’ll have seen in the news, workers represented by the BC Government Employees Union (the “BCGEU”) are currently on strike with the province at several worksites.
We stand firmly in support and solidarity with BCGEU and its members on strike. We are watching this situation closely and encourage members to show their support for their fight for a fair collective agreement.
Standing together
We know that the return to classrooms is an extremely busy time for all of us as K-12 workers, and that the work we do can be both rewarding and, at times, very challenging. As school support workers, hundreds of thousands of students and families depend on the services we provide in our public schools. And as CUPE members, we know we can depend on each other. Your continued support and engagement are critical to the success of students in our schools, and in our collective success at the bargaining table.
