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BC Teachers contract negotiation and job action
February 28, 2012 - 8:00pm
Has anybody been following the BC Teachers labour negotiations?
B.C. legislation to remove teachers' right to strike
Quote:
Can babblers in the know explain the precedent of this, if any? How can we support the teachers here?
B.C.'s 40,000 teachers have been granted the right to strike by the Labour Relations Board, but the government has introduced legislation that could take away that right and impose a six-month cooling-off period and a mediator to settle the contract dispute. The rapidly developing situation has left many parents wondering whether they will have to scramble to arrange child care or time off work, as both sides jockey for position in a highly polarized dispute. The legislation is expected to take to take up to a week to pass in the legislature, meaning the teachers could legally exercise their right to strike in the meantime. The province's Labour Relations Board ruled Tuesday afternoon that the teachers can strike for three days in one week as part of their expanded job action, and then one day each subsequent week, though they must give two days notice before striking. The strike ruling from the board came down just hours before the provincial government introduced its own legislation aimed at ending the dispute. The legislation introduced by the government would not impose a new contract, but does include a cooling-off period that would end the current job action until Aug. 31, making the teachers' current job action and any future strikes illegal, once it has passed into law. The B.C. Teachers Federation is expected to hold a strike vote on Wednesday and Thursday, meaning the earliest possible date for a strike may be next week. The BCTF will not be allowed to set up picket lines, the board ruled. The board also said it will review its ruling on a weekly basis. The teachers required the board's ruling to strike legally because they have been designated as an essential service by the government.
Teachers' strike hinges on clock
CF, I don't know the details of the legislation nor the evolution of the dispute. But ignorance has rarely stayed my posting hand. Let me go back in time.
I'm old enough to recall vividly Dave Barrett ordering a 3-month "cooling off period" in 1975 (or 1976?) when about 80,000 workers were on strike - ferries, beer-truck drivers, can't recall who else. Before the 3 months were over, the deadline passed to sign a collective agreement and without being swept under Trudeau's wage control guidelines. I don't recall what the penalties would have been for violating the back-to-work order, but that action was arguably more serious, in that it disrupted not potential job actions, but real strikes which were already under way.
I don't know if that's the kind of "precedent" you were looking for - but if you refer me to (or I can find on my own) more background info, I'd like to at least follow what happens whether I have anything useful to contribute or not.
quote:
Clark playing political games with education: Dix
There's time to pass the government's bill before Tuesday, said Premier Christy Clark.
"I'd certainly like to see it in place sooner rather than later," she said. "I want to make sure kids don't lose a day of school. Ultimately, that's what we're trying to do here."
To pass it in a hurry would require the NDP to co-operate, she said. "We need the NDP and the teachers' union to step back from the cliff a little bit and decide they want to be responsible about this," she said. "We can't do it alone."
Both the BCTF and the employer agreed last week to mediation, so it's not clear why the government felt compelled to introduce its legislation, said NDP Leader Dix.
The legislation "takes us down a different path, and I suspect not a better path," he said. "Now we're into a negative debate that I think will be negative for children in classrooms."
The NDP is still reviewing the bill, but will likely vote against it, he said. The party will advocate for what he called "real" mediation, he said. "I think what we need from all sides is a return to the respect that's been missing."
After a year of failed negotiations it's ridiculous for Clark to suggest the outcome depends on the NDP, Dix said. "The government decides the legislative agenda," he said. "For them to suggest this is my job is just more political games."
Teachers, parents and students all have much riding on the contract being settled in a fair and respectful way, he said. "I remind the premier there are real lives at stakes."
Dix did point out that the only negotiation with teachers that he was involved in as a government staff person in the 1990s ended with two years of zero wage increases followed by a two per cent increase in the final year of the contract, which also made improvements to classroom conditions.
Premier Clark, on the other hand, was education minister in 2002 when the government stripped provisions out of teachers' contracts, a move defeated in the B.C. Supreme Court....
http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/02/29/Teachers-Anti-Strike-Legislation/
Today the BC Liberal Government has introduced Bill 22, imposing 2 years of no wage increases and seeking significant concession from teachers regarding learning conditions and professional development. At the same time, the BC Liberals eliminate teachers' right to job action. After three terms this tired government has not learned anything when it comes to respecting workers' democratic rights.
The BC Liberal government still has the ability to prevent a crisis in our public education system; withdraw Bill 22 and return to the bargaining table without condition and with the help of a professional mediator. The BC Teachers Federation has already called for the appointment of Stephen Kelleher as a mediator in this dispute. The B.C. Federation of Labour supports this call, and encourages the provincial government to accept this request. School trustees have called for mediation, the employer BC PSEA has agreed to mediation, and the public overwhelmingly supports real mediation.
Today's legislation has nothing to do with improving public education, it's about a provincial government, beyond its expiry date, with no new ideas and no commitment to public education. In fact, Bill 22 will create larger class sizes and offers no support for students with special needs. Far from restoring teachers' rights to bargain their working conditions, class size and composition, Bill 22 plans to make those rights obsolete. Teachers deserve better; and most importantly, so do our kids.
The government's actions today extend beyond teachers and impact all provincial public sector negotiations. Imposing a mandate when other public sector workers have only begun bargaining is a serious breach of the principle of free collective bargaining. This legislative hammer comes from a government that has lost a number of Supreme Court challenges resulting from their trampling of labour rights.
If the BC Liberal government was truly interested in mediation, they would use the tools at their disposal via the Labour Relations Board and the Labour Code, no other legislation is necessary. Mediation involves an impartial third party able to hear the concerns of both parties. Mediation cannot be limited to only the issues the BC Liberals choose. Bill 22 is not mediation it's the beginning of an imposed collective agreement.
BC's public and private sector unions and our more than 450,000 members stand in solidarity with BC's teachers and their desire for a fair negotiated deal. Labour leaders will be meeting to discuss how they continue to support BC teachers.
?
BC Government & Service Employees' Union
BC Teachers' Federation
BC and Yukon Territory Building and Construction Trades Council
Canadian Auto Workers
Canadian Office and Professional Employee's Union
Canadian Union of Public Employees
Communication, Energy & Paperworkers Union of Canada
Federation of Post-Secondary Educators
Health Sciences Association of BC
Hospital Employees' Union
International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees and Moving Picture Operators
International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers
International Longshore & Warehouse Union
International Union of Operating Engineers
Public Service Alliance of Canada
UNITE HERE!
United Food & Commercial Workers' International Union
United Steelworkers
http://bcfed.ca/node/2194
Well, here's the obvious post ...
Teachers shocked by Bill 22, a radical assault on our profession: http://bctf.ca/NewsReleases.aspx?id=25663
“Why should these bargaining rights be postponed until after the next election? This means students will have suffered worsening conditions for a full 12 years,” Lambert said. “Teachers sacrificed raises in the past to win protections for class size and composition because we care about our students and want to be able to teach to individual needs. I can only imagine how concerned parents will be when they realize that learning conditions are only going to get worse as a result of this bill.”
Bill 22 also includes severe penalties in the event of an illegal strike: $475 per day for individual teachers, $2,500 per day for union officers, and a minimum of $1.3 million per day for the BCTF. “The fines in this bullying legislation are punitive in the extreme,” Lambert said. “They are a clear attempt to intimidate teachers.”
Catchfire, here's the only reference material on "precedent" that I could find quickly. Please note that all these attacks against workers' rights either preceded the Charter (in the case of Dave Barrett's government) or preceded the Supreme Court decision finding that collective bargaining had some protection under freedom of association:
A history of NDP strikebreaking [in B.C.]
There is nothing new under the sun.
B.C.'s 40,000 teachers have been granted the right to strike by the Labour Relations Board, but the government has introduced legislation that could take away that right and impose a six-month cooling-off period and a mediator to settle the ...
video BCTF President Susan Lambert
http://en.video.sympatico.ca/news-info/top-stories/watch/b.c.-legislatio...
Critics say 17 years of negotiation failures means government has to change tactics to work with teachers.
When Education Minister George Abbott announced last week he would be legislating a collective agreement for the province's teachers, he said it was because of concern over harm to students and their parents caused by the teachers' job action.
But a poll of 400 British Columbians from across the province commissioned by the BC Federation of Labour questions Abbott's sources. Released this weekend, the poll revealed 52 per cent of those polled were against government imposing a contract on teachers, increasing to 62 per cent if that contract were to include a wage freeze, weakened seniority provisions, and other concessions.
The BC School Trustees Association is uncomfortable with the idea of legislation, too. A vote held on Saturday shows trustees from across the province are in favour of introducing a mediator to negotiations rather than legislating yet another contract and further fracturing government's relationship with teachers.....
http://thetyee.ca/News/2012/02/28/Bargaining-With-Teachers/
Larry Kuehn, BCTF Director of Research and Technology - February 21, 2012
Members of the British Columbia Teachers' Federation began a strike on the day that school opened in September of 2011. But classes have gone on as normal, and that has continued into February 2012.
Teachers continue to teach, assess students and even voluntarily sponsor extra-curricular activities as they would if they were not on strike. And they continue to get their full pay because they are carrying out their teaching.
What they are not doing is any administrative work other than keeping attendance (for safety reasons). They do no supervision before or after school or during breaks during the day. The administrators have to do this work — everyone from the superintendent to the vice-principal. Teachers don't go to staff meetings or hold any meetings with school administrators, unless safety of the students is involved.
This form of strike exists because the BC government tried to eliminate teacher strikes by passing "essential service" legislation. This type of legislation is generally aimed at hospital or police or fire unions. It requires that essential services be maintained during a strike and has a process where the union and the employer negotiate with the Labour Relations Board what is essential and what levels of staffing are required to meet those. Other activities are not essential and the workers on strike don't have to do them. Those employees carrying out the essential service are paid as they have been under the collective agreement that has expired....
http://substancenews.net/articles.php?page=3088§ion=Article
eta: quote:
Report cards were determined not to be essential, so teachers did not produce report cards when the reporting period came up. The BCTF encouraged all teachers to be in contact and available to talk to parents about how their child is doing — just not based on letter grades. Some parents have said that it has produced more meaningful information about how their child is doing than report cards and letter grades.
In an effort to put teachers in a bad light, the Ministry of Education directed school principals to send home report cards, even though they had no grades on them, only attendance information. The tens of thousands of dollars it cost to do this made the Macleans' magazine list of stupid government expenditures and the Ministry said blank report cards won't be mailed home at the next reporting period if the strike is still on.
Thanks to everyone for the info. Much appreciated.
B.C. teachers vote 87% in favour of strike
Strike is set to start on Monday!
Why you should support BC teachers
Here is a letter from a BC teacher to her MLA:
And another letter from a teacher's perspective (FB Note):
12,000 Vancouver students planning to walk out of school to back teachers
VANCOUVER - An idea that took shape during a chat between friends in a high school theatre class has swelled to a movement of more than 12,500 B.C. students who plan to walk out of school on Friday in support of their teachers.
Students plan to leave their classes at 2 p.m., an hour early for the Vancouver district, and gather at the Vancouver Art Gallery, said organizer Nicole Yu, a Grade 11 student at Windermere secondary in east Vancouver. There they will demonstrate in support of teachers who Yu said are being unfairly treated by the B.C. government.
"We want the government to negotiate in good faith and respect the process of collective bargaining for all working people instead of legislating agreements/contracts," said a pamphlet posted on the event's Facebook page....
http://www.vancouversun.com/touch/business/story.html?id=6228354
Do you support further job action by teachers?
On Thursday March 1, 2012, the BCTF served notice that it will commence a three day strike starting Monday March 5, 2012. CUPE fully supports the BCTF's struggle against Bill 22 and their fight for free collective bargaining. CUPE BC President Barry O'Neill has written a letter to all CUPE members to explain the situation further (see below).
The BCTF has reached an agreement with the employer through the Labour Relations Board that will see no picket lines go up during the strike.
The agreement, which the BCTF has asked CUPE to honour, means CUPE members in the K-12 sector are expected to show up to work as scheduled, but should not perform any student supervision which is teacher and administrator work.
Dear CUPE members working in K-12:
Re: BC Teachers Federation (BCTF) Job Action Update
Following a province-wide vote of its membership, the BCTF has announced that teachers will launch a full strike for three days beginning Monday, March 5, 2012. BCTF President Susan Lambert announced the strike action Thursday, March 1, 2012. CUPE stands in solidarity with the BCTF against the government’s legislation and fully supports the BCTF’s efforts to maintain free collective bargaining in British Columbia.
CUPE members always respect picket lines wherever and whenever we encounter them. However, in this dispute, the BCTF has asked that CUPE members continue to work during this BCTF strike action, as BCTF and the employers have agreed there will be no pickets. A brief summary of the legislation is on the following page. This agreement was made to ensure that the BCTF would be in a full-scale strike position without lengthy Labour Relations Board hearings. While this is unusual, CUPE respects the right of all unions to run their strike action as they see fit.
BCPSEA, the employer, has assured us that schools will be closed to students but will remain open for support staff to report to work as they normally would. CUPE members should report to work and perform their regular duties. School District employers will not close schools or layoff members during the dispute. Regular duties should be continued. This may include dealing with backlogged work, special cleaning, meetings or Pro-D. This should not include student supervision, which is teacher and administrator work.
We remain in constant communication with the BCTF. Expect more information as it becomes available. Please direct any questions to your Local President.
I know this will be a difficult and challenging time for CUPE members as well as for our sisters and brothers in the BCTF. I will update you as soon as any new developments occur.
In Solidarity,
Barry O’Neill
President
CUPE BC Division
http://cupe.ca/education/bctf-job-action-update-k-12
Solutions to end this dispute can only be found at the bargaining table, not through imposed contracts that freeze wages and increase class sizes.
WHEN March 06, 2012 at 12:00 PM WHEREBC Legislature
501 Belleville St
Victoria, BC V8V 2L8
Canada
http://www.standupforbc.com/mass_rally_in_victoria_to_support_bc_s_teachers
..thought this was worth a repost. this little gem of a rebellion has been going on under our noses without notice until now. i take from the sophistacation and solidarity of this struggle that we are ready to take on capital. were looking for the spark. i concider teachers the gatekeepers of education and they are showing us what we must do to safeguard the future.
British Columbia teachers enter sixth month of unique 'strike'
Larry Kuehn, BCTF Director of Research and Technology - February 21, 2012
Members of the British Columbia Teachers' Federation began a strike on the day that school opened in September of 2011. But classes have gone on as normal, and that has continued into February 2012.
Teachers continue to teach, assess students and even voluntarily sponsor extra-curricular activities as they would if they were not on strike. And they continue to get their full pay because they are carrying out their teaching.
What they are not doing is any administrative work other than keeping attendance (for safety reasons). They do no supervision before or after school or during breaks during the day. The administrators have to do this work — everyone from the superintendent to the vice-principal. Teachers don't go to staff meetings or hold any meetings with school administrators, unless safety of the students is involved.
This form of strike exists because the BC government tried to eliminate teacher strikes by passing "essential service" legislation. This type of legislation is generally aimed at hospital or police or fire unions. It requires that essential services be maintained during a strike and has a process where the union and the employer negotiate with the Labour Relations Board what is essential and what levels of staffing are required to meet those. Other activities are not essential and the workers on strike don't have to do them. Those employees carrying out the essential service are paid as they have been under the collective agreement that has expired....
http://substancenews.net/articles.php?page=3088§ion=Article
Each time the provincial government issues a budget, along with it comes a “Service Plan” for each of the ministries. The plan structure for the Ministry of Education has varied over the years. The current one is structured around the five elements of “BC’s Education Plan.”
The Service Plan talks of how we will “modernize how education is delivered” and how the ministry will support “the education transformation in all stages of the system.” The need for transformation is restated: rapid change, new occupations, other education systems overtaking ours, designed for an earlier century.
What will this new system look like? Student-centered learning; flexibility and choice for students with respect to how, when, and where learning takes place; more open and accountable to students, families, communities, and the public; obstacles removed so our students will become responsible, well-educated citizens; learners allowed more freedom to pursue their individual interests and passions; kids freed from the restrictions of the old system that is stopping them from becoming responsible, well-educated citizens prepared for the future.
So what is the source of the restrictions that have to be removed? It seems that it is teachers....
http://www.bctf.ca/announcements.aspx?id=25451
The provincial government continues to ignore the funding crisis in public education. Since 2001, school districts across the province have seen a decade of cuts initiated by then education minister Christy Clark that now represent more than $300 million a year.
Districts are facing ongoing shortfalls that may force them to close more schools, cut programs for students and layoff teachers. Cuts will lead to larger classes and less support for children with special needs. BC has already lost 194 schools since 2001, 3 more are closing, and 2 are threatened with closure.
On March 2, 2010, the government brought forward a new budget that actually froze funding for 33 of BC's 60 school districts. As fixed costs like salaries, pensions, electricity and transportation rise, that decision puts even more strain on our public education system.
Parents, trustees and teachers need to work together to stop these cuts.
Make sure your voice is heard by contacting your local MLA and the minister of education.
Share your stories about how these cuts will impact your children and their school with the media. Visit our Advocacy and Action page to find out how.
http://www.bctf.ca/WhenWillTheyLearn.aspx
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rh8PLOdM9c0&feature=youtu.be
eta:
A Dark Day for Public Education: A decade of resistance by BC Teachersvideo produced for the BC Teachers' Federation, January 28, 2012
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFf4ImxmrDE&list=PLDAAC89704D8712AE&featu...
Vancouver Rally in Support of BC's Teachers
WHEN March 07, 2012 at 2:00 PM WHEREVancouver Art Gallery
750 Hornby St
Vancouver, BC V6C 3G1
Canada
Speakers:
Susan Lambert , BCTF
Jane Bouey, former COPE school trustee
Irene Lanzinger, BCFED
Gwen Giesbrecht, parent
Debbie Pawluk, VSTA
Navi Rai, student
Chris Harris, VESTA
Barry O’Neill, CUPE
Songs by the Solidarity Notes
Sponsored by Lower Mainland Public School Teachers
http://www.standupforbc.com/wednesday_rally_at_art_gallery_in_support_of...
B.C. isn't broke: Putting teacher bargaining in perspectiveBump.
The B.C. Liberal government is poised, once again, to violate the legal rights of workers, this time with Bill 22, which, if it becomes law, will prohibit teachers from striking and limit their collective bargaining rights.
In 2007, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that the government had violated the Canadian Charter by imposing legislative restrictions on the rights of health workers to bargain collectively. In April 2011, the British Columbia Supreme Court followed that decision to rule that legislation concerning teachers was unconstitutional, and thereby invalid, because it prohibited bargaining on class size, class composition and the ratios of teachers to students.
It is those very same restrictions that the government now seeks to reinstate with Bill 22, a disturbing disregard for such a recent judicial declaration that they are constitutionally invalid.....
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Constitutional+international+risk+under+Bill/6256343/story.html#ixzz1oTgy6Fsovideo:
http://www.cheknews.ca/
..............
Bill's harsh terms more than 'cooling off'quote:
But there's much more to it than that. The matters discussed by Clark - the so-called "cooling-off period," the mediation and some severe penalties in the event that the teachers defy the strike ban - are covered in Part 1 of the bill.
Then comes Part 2, which, in the words of the bill, "amends various education statutes on a number of matters, including class size, additional compensation for teachers of classes that exceed 30 students and a learning improvement fund."
The contents are rather less benign than that official description. For instance, there's this all-embracing restriction on the contents of teachers' collective agreements:
"There must not be included any provision regulating the selection and appointment of teachers under this act; the courses of study, the program of studies or the professional methods and techniques employed by a teacher; restricting or regulating the assignment by a board of teaching duties to principals, vice principals or directors of instruction; limiting a board's power to employ persons other than teachers to assist teachers in the carrying out of their responsibilities under this act; restricting or regulating a board's power to establish class size and class composition ..." Take a deep breath....
Read more: http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Bill+harsh+terms+more+than+cooling/6263389/story.html#ixzz1oTrCvEPJvideo:
Laura John sings with fellow Lillooet BC Teachers about the many problems associated with Bill 22.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czIm3PA4hiM&feature=share
BC teachers reacted with incredulity to a report that the Ministry of Education intends to pay some teachers more than others, depending on their class sizes.
“This pay-per-student scheme is like educational piece-work, it treats students like widgets. It’s like a 19th century factory model,” said BCTF President Susan Lambert.
“For decades, teachers have been advocating for smaller classes so we can provide the individual attention that helps children thrive in school. In all that time, we have never asked for increased pay for larger classes because that wouldn’t do anything to improve learning conditions for our students,” she said.
“Any amount of money to the teacher won’t make those overcrowded classrooms okay for kids,” Lambert said. “You simply can’t teach to individual needs in overcrowded classrooms.”
A media report today states that the Ministry of Education is proposing to pay teachers:
“This is unethical. It treats student as a commodity to be traded off or bartered. This is an appalling idea from the Ministry of Education” Lambert said.
Education Minister George Abbott is reported as saying that having to pay teachers extra if they have more than 30 students would provide financial disincentives to school boards to have large classes.
“It appears that the minister is using students as pawns to put pressure on school boards to rob funds from somewhere else to keep class sizes down. The education budget is frozen. With a $100 million funding shortfall for next year, it’s clear boards are going to have to cut entire programs to fund this odious scheme,” Lambert said.
http://www.bctf.ca/NewsReleases.aspx?id=26215