The B.C. Public School Employers' Association (BCPSEA) board of directors has ratified two-year collective agreements for support staff in another nine school districts.The agreement, which covers the Comox Valley School District (71) falls under the the government's 2010 net-zero mandate, bringing the total up to 40 agreements covering about 18,300 employees.The negotiated agreements were reached through collaborativediscussions between the BCPSEA, the accredited bargaining agent for the province's 60 public boards of education and union bargaining teams representing K-to-12 support staff in December.The collective agreements were ratified at the local level and will continue to be announced as they receive final ratification by the BCPSEA board over the next few weeks.Although outstanding agreements are still being negotiated with unions under the 2010 mandate, virtually all of B.C.'s public-sector collective agreements covered by the 2010 mandate are now settled for two years of net-zero.The new mandate gives public-sector employers theability to look for operational savings that may be applied to modest wage increases as long as services are maintained and costs are held to existing budgets.There are approximately 300,000 unionized workers employed in the public service, at Crown corporations and agencies, and in the K-12, post-secondary, health and community social services sectors.Updated bargaining information is available at www.pssg.gov.bc.ca/psec.鈥� Ministry of Education
