Nearly two years after the expiry of their collective agreement, post-secondary instructors have reached a tentative settlement that concludes the 2010 round of provincial common table negotiations, said the leaders of the two major unions in post-secondary education collective bargaining.

"This settlement follows a difficult round of negotiations, but the provincial common table bargaining committee wanted to entrench some agreed language changes before going back to the table next year," says FPSE President Cindy Oliver. "The agreement covers a number of non-monetary items that are important to post-secondary educators."

Key elements of the settlement include a review of disability benefit plans to find ways of improving coverage and access. The negotiators have also agreed to review the current system of salary scales which FPSE negotiators will use to identify potential inequities in that system.

"Our members were never happy with the government's net-zero mandate, but this tentative settlement will help position our local and common table negotiators for the next round of bargaining," says BCGEU President Darryl Walker. "The zero mandate is affecting recruitment and retention of instruction staff, and needs to be addressed in 2012 bargaining."

The common table agreement joins with local agreements across the province to complete the collective agreement package in post-secondary education. If ratified, the common table and local agreements would expire on March 31, 2012.

FPSE represents over 10,000 faculty and staff who work and teach in BC's universities, colleges and institutes. The BCGEU represents post-secondary instructors at seven post-secondary institutions; five are represented at the common table negotiations.

For further information:

FPSE - Phillip Legg (plegg@fpse.ca) / 604.788.2877
BCGEU - Chris Bradshaw (chris.bradshaw@bcgeu.ca) / 604.369.8411