> SFU childcare strike ends
SFU childcare strike ends
October 12, 2007
Childcare services for some 270 families will resume on Monday, Oct. 15 at Simon Fraser University.
The SFU Childcare Society board and 67 early childhood educators at the SFU Child Care Society have voted in favor of a mediated settlement. The early childhood educators ratified the agreement with 82 per cent support, ending a four-week-old strike that followed rotating job action over the summer.
The new collective agreement provides pay increases for all of the early childhood educators and includes partially restored pension benefits that were lost in 2003 after government cuts to childcare funding.
“The board and management of the Childcare Society are grateful to the families who have waited patiently and invested their time and energy in developing new ideas for the future,” says Pat Frouws, executive director, SFU Childcare.
“Many have turned out to meetings, written letters to politicians, marched together across campus or visited the picket line to help boost the staff's spirits.”
Frouws says the board and management are hopeful that those parents who found it necessary to take their children elsewhere will consider returning.
In a BCGEU news release, Ursula Clark, union bargaining chair, thanked parents for their support and commitment to solving the funding inequity for qualified early childhood educators.
The SFU Childcare Society operates independently from the university. The society runs 13 programs for children between the ages of three months and 12 years and is funded primarily through parent user fees.
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The SFU Childcare Society board and 67 early childhood educators at the SFU Child Care Society have voted in favor of a mediated settlement. The early childhood educators ratified the agreement with 82 per cent support, ending a four-week-old strike that followed rotating job action over the summer.
The new collective agreement provides pay increases for all of the early childhood educators and includes partially restored pension benefits that were lost in 2003 after government cuts to childcare funding.
“The board and management of the Childcare Society are grateful to the families who have waited patiently and invested their time and energy in developing new ideas for the future,” says Pat Frouws, executive director, SFU Childcare.
“Many have turned out to meetings, written letters to politicians, marched together across campus or visited the picket line to help boost the staff's spirits.”
Frouws says the board and management are hopeful that those parents who found it necessary to take their children elsewhere will consider returning.
In a BCGEU news release, Ursula Clark, union bargaining chair, thanked parents for their support and commitment to solving the funding inequity for qualified early childhood educators.
The SFU Childcare Society operates independently from the university. The society runs 13 programs for children between the ages of three months and 12 years and is funded primarily through parent user fees.
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