[编者按：经过几日的马拉松式谈判，劳资双方终于在工会降低了工资要求和政府承诺就降低班级人数提供更多资金的前提下达成初步协议，现在在最后认定阶段。如果协议通过，教师会在周二就结束罢工投票，学生们也将会在下周初返校复课。
让我们期待一切顺利，孩子们可以尽早回到教室。]
B.C. teachers' strike: Tentative deal reached
If tentative deal is finalized today, teachers are expected to vote Thursday
CBC News Posted: Sep 16, 2014 4:37 AM PT Last Updated: Sep 16, 2014 8:57 AM PT
A tentative deal has been reached in the months-long B.C. public school teachers' strike, meaning teachers could vote to end their strike on Thursday and students could be back in class by early next week.
The breakthrough in negotiations between the B.C. Teachers' Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers' Association comes on the fourth day of marathon talks at a Richmond, B.C., hotel.
Full coverage: The B.C. teachers' strike
Live updates: CBC Reporters provide the latest news
MORE | When schools could reopen?
The BCTF first tweeted that a tentative deal had been reached around 3:50 a.m PT. Then mediator Vince Ready emerged from the hotel a few minutes later to confirm the tentative deal had been initialled by both parties.
"I'm not at liberty to release any of the details, nor are the parties. They are going to meet later this morning and finalize a few of the details," said Ready.
"Everybody is a bit tired now," said Ready, who is scheduled to take a flight later Tuesday to settle a separate dispute in Ontario.
When could schools reopen?
Once the details of the deal are finalized by the bargaining teams, the province's 41,000 public school teachers will also have to vote on it before classes can resume.
A date for a ratification vote has not yet been announced, but BCTF spokeswoman Nancy Knickerbocker tweeted that teachers could vote on the tentative deal on Thursday.
It remains unclear when schools could reopen if the deal is ratified. School administrators say there will be a lot of work to be done before students can return to classes for the first time since June.
Schools, behind picket lines for three months, need to be cleaned. New schedules for students who missed summer school also need to be drawn up, and teachers will need to be assigned to classes and get ready for students.
That indicates students could be back in school on Friday at the very earliest, but more likely Monday next week.
Some schools have professional development days scheduled for Monday and it remains unclear what will happen in those cases.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Education Minister Peter Fassbender are not expected to comment on the tentative deal until it is finalized, likely later Tuesday.
Marathon negotiation sessions
Negotiations began Saturday under increasing pressure from the public and suggestions by the government that legislating an end to the dispute was an option.
Last Wednesday, the BCTF voted overwhelmingly to end their dispute — which dates back to before the end of the last school year — if the government agreed to binding arbitration, something the province had firmly rejected.
Teachers launched full-scale job action two weeks before the summer break and students have missed more than two weeks of the 2014-2015 school year.
The federation and B.C. government — no matter what political affiliation — have a decades-long history of animosity and difficult labour disputes.
The breakthrough in negotiations between the B.C. Teachers' Federation and the B.C. Public School Employers' Association comes on the fourth day of marathon talks at a Richmond, B.C., hotel.
Full coverage: The B.C. teachers' strike
Live updates: CBC Reporters provide the latest news
MORE | When schools could reopen?
The BCTF first tweeted that a tentative deal had been reached around 3:50 a.m PT. Then mediator Vince Ready emerged from the hotel a few minutes later to confirm the tentative deal had been initialled by both parties.
"I'm not at liberty to release any of the details, nor are the parties. They are going to meet later this morning and finalize a few of the details," said Ready.
"Everybody is a bit tired now," said Ready, who is scheduled to take a flight later Tuesday to settle a separate dispute in Ontario.
When could schools reopen?
Once the details of the deal are finalized by the bargaining teams, the province's 41,000 public school teachers will also have to vote on it before classes can resume.
A date for a ratification vote has not yet been announced, but BCTF spokeswoman Nancy Knickerbocker tweeted that teachers could vote on the tentative deal on Thursday.
BCPSEA negotiator Peter Cameron says he is happy a tentative deal has been reached, adding he hadn't slept much during the four days of marathon negotiating sessions. (Dan Burritt/CBC)
It remains unclear when schools could reopen if the deal is ratified. School administrators say there will be a lot of work to be done before students can return to classes for the first time since June.
Schools, behind picket lines for three months, need to be cleaned. New schedules for students who missed summer school also need to be drawn up, and teachers will need to be assigned to classes and get ready for students.
That indicates students could be back in school on Friday at the very earliest, but more likely Monday next week.
Some schools have professional development days scheduled for Monday and it remains unclear what will happen in those cases.
B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Education Minister Peter Fassbender are not expected to comment on the tentative deal until it is finalized, likely later Tuesday.
Marathon negotiation sessions
Negotiations began Saturday under increasing pressure from the public and suggestions by the government that legislating an end to the dispute was an option.
Last Wednesday, the BCTF voted overwhelmingly to end their dispute — which dates back to before the end of the last school year — if the government agreed to binding arbitration, something the province had firmly rejected.
Teachers launched full-scale job action two weeks before the summer break and students have missed more than two weeks of the 2014-2015 school year.
The federation and B.C. government — no matter what political affiliation — have a decades-long history of animosity and difficult labour disputes.
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