The BC Government has introduced Bill 22, legislation to end the BC teacher’s strike.
Bill 22 , called the Education Improvement Act, suspends the teachers’ strike action and sets a "cooling off" period, appoints a mediator to facilitate bargaining, and implements a new $165-million Learning Improvement Fund and other enhancements to K-12 education.
Bill 22 imposes a cooling off period and suspends the teachers’ union strike action while calling on the assistance of a mediator. The legislation does not impose a new contract. Rather, it extends the previous collective agreement to cover the mediation period, with the goal of reaching a negotiated agreement by the beginning of summer. If there is no agreement, then the mediator will issue a report by June 30, 2012 with non-binding recommendations.
The Bill imposes very severe penalties for failing to comply.
See Bill 22 here;
http://www.leg.bc.ca/39th4th/1st_read/gov22-1.htm
You can find the Feb. 23 report on the status of BCTF and BCPSEA negotiations (the Hughes Report) at: