Bill 18 delayed until spring 2012 session

A hurried but effective public campaign to lobby the B.C. Liberal government to withdraw Bill 18, the Advanced Education Statutes Amendment Act, has achieved a partial victory, as the government held over the legislation to the spring 2012 session of the legislature, delaying second reading of the bill.

Amendments to the College and Institute Act contained in Bill 18 would ban union activists from being elected to serve on college and institute Boards of Governors, prohibit elected board members from serving as chair, and allow a government-appointed 2/3 majority of board members to remove an elected representative on the board.

“Our members deserve credit for putting pressure on the government to withdraw this anti-democratic legislation,” says BCGEU president Darryl Walker. “Delaying the Bill is a good first step, but we need to keep up the pressure to have the offending sections of the legislation removed.”

Bill 18 was tabled in the legislature without any notice or consultation with affected parties, and was originally scheduled to be passed into law by the end of the current session of the legislature.

The BCGEU, along with union allies FPSE (Federation of Public Sector Educators), and CUPE initiated a dialogue with our members, asking them to access our campaign page and e-mail the minister and opposition critic to express their opposition to these sections of the bill.

Members are urged to visit the BCGEU's Bill 18 campaign page for further information, and to e-mail the government with their views on the proposed legislation.