Thursday 24 November 2016

Thursday 10 November 2016

BCTF wins Supreme Court battle over class size and composition!!!!


November 10, 2016:  A critical day for BC educators, students and parents!


Dear Colleagues,

On November 10, 2016, counsel for the BC Teachers’ Federation will be appearing before the Supreme Court of Canada to present our case on collective bargaining rights. The BCTF will be represented by Federation General Counsel Diane MacDonald and John Rogers, QC, from Victory Square Law Office.


The Federation will not be commenting in the media about the case.

The Federation’s lawyers, who have been working incredibly hard on the case for several months, filed our 40-page written factum in June. They will have one hour to present our case and lawyers for the BC government will also have one hour. The Canadian Labour Congress and other national unions, including CUPE, have been granted intervener status on behalf of Canadian workers. They have each submitted a written factum and will have five minutes to address the Court. A number of provinces and the Federal government have also intervened to present the perspective of governments. (The Canadian Taxpayers Federation requested to intervene, but was not granted permission to do so.) All of the factums are available online.

It is not known when the Supreme Court will render its decision. Whenever the decision does come down, the Federation will promptly communicate it to members.

In solidarity,

Glen Hansman
President