Author Archives: cmenzies

Support for teachers continues!

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BC Fed reaffirms support for teachers in emergency meeting Sunday, October 10.Monday, October 10, 2005

Vancouver – An emergency meeting of Labour leaders on Monday voted unanimously to continue their support of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation to fight for a fair collective agreement, and called on union members to bolster protest lines and attend province wide rallies in support of BC’s teachers on Tuesday evening, said B.C. Federation of Labour President Jim Sinclair.

The leaders – members of the Executive Officers of the B.C. Federation of Labour, also called on the provincial government to move quickly to find a table where the two parties can sit down and work out the problems facing teachers and the where education system. “Labour leaders representing workers from all sectors of our economy understand how important it is for teachers to have the right to bargain a collective agreement and not have their rights torn up by the government,” Sinclair said.

“The only solution for students, parents and workers is for the government to sit down and negotiate an agreement,” stated Sinclair. “Court orders and Labour Relations Board decisions will not provide one solution or improve one condition for teachers and students or the pubic education system,” said Jim Sinclair, President of the B.C. Federation of Labour.

“We met with government last week and tried to find a solution,” Sinclair noted. “The Campbell government has a choice to make confrontation or negotiation. I remain hopeful that the government recognizes negotiation is the only way to end this dispute.”

The Federation, in conjunction with local Labour Councils, announced rallies in support of teachers to be held around the province beginning Tuesday evening. In Vancouver the rally is scheduled for 5:30 pm at Canada Place, the Vancouver Convention and Exhibition Centre. In Victoria, a rally is scheduled to kick off at 5:00 pm at the Greater Victoria School Board. Rallies are also scheduled across Vancouver Island, the Kootenays, BC’s North and Interior. More information can be found at www.bcfed.com.

“Teachers are willing to look for solutions, we’re available to talk any time the government calls,” said BC Teachers’ Federation President Jinny Sims. Taking action wasn’t teachers first choice, it’s now our only choice.” Sims thanked the public, parents and the labour movement for their ongoing support.

Sinclair called on union members who are parents of school aged children to stand with the teachers and show solidarity. He noted that while parents and families are inconvenienced, most understand that if teachers don’t take a stand for our kids’ learning conditions, nothing will improve.

The public, by a two-to-one margin oppose the actions of the government in ordering the teachers back-to-work according to a poll released by the Federation. The poll, conducted by Ideaworks/Stratcomm on October 6 and 7 showed that teachers enjoy the support of the public in their demands for improved learning conditions and a fair wage increase.

In particular 67 percent of British Columbians surveyed disagreed with the BC Liberals decision to impose a contract on teachers. Over half of those surveyed indicated teachers should be allowed to negotiate class size and special needs support at the bargaining table. Similarly over half indicated they supported public protests if the government ordered teachers back-to-work.

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For more information, please contact Jessie Uppal at 604 430-1421 or 604 220-0739.

Supreme Court Ruling

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BC Supreme Court finds BC Teacher’s Federation in Contempt of Court for going on Strike.

The following was clipped from David Schreck’s web page.
October 6, 2005

Teachers’ Civil Disobedience

“They could threaten to put me in prison.”
Jenny Sims, BCTF President, quoted in The Province, October 6, 2005

There is one important ambiguity in what Sims said; who are “they”? They are not the government. Governments used to include nasty penalties in back to work legislation, but modern labour law puts the really mean stuff over to the courts.

Sims and the BCTF executive may be stubborn but they aren’t stupid. They know that the employers’ association will attempt to get a ruling from the Labour Relations Board by Thursday afternoon, and that the employers will certainly succeed in getting an order by Friday afternoon that a full scale withdrawal of services is an illegal strike. The order will then be registered in BC Supreme Court where the union will be called up on charges of contempt of court for failing to abide by the order. If the union directs its members to return to work immediately, it might get off with a finding of civil contempt and relatively minor fines. If the job action continues, the union and its officers could be found in criminal contempt of court with substantial fines and jail sentences.

Case law on “illegal strikes” was made in Alberta when the United Nurses of Alberta went on strike in January, 1988, contrary to directives made under the Alberta Labour Relations Act forbidding the strike; they were found to be in criminal contempt of court and fined $400,000. In 1992 the Supreme Court of Canada upheld the criminal contempt of court; a dissenting opinion said:

“The conduct of the union leadership was not sufficient to transform the civil contempt into criminal contempt. The element of public injury was missing from the breach of the order. The nurses neither flaunted their disobedience of the order nor presented any threat of violence. The diffidence of their spokesperson in discussing the matter with press indicated that the union did not intend to bring the administration of justice into a disrepute or hold it up to scorn.”
The fact that the teachers are willing to risk fines and jail shows how angry they are with the Campbell government for using legislation to break their contract and remove their right to bargain working and learning conditions, class size, number of special needs students per class, whether special needs students must have assistance and other matters that are crucial to how classrooms function.

Many of the civil rights we take for granted were only achieved because someone was willing to take on the establishment with civil disobedience. The teachers are at the threshold of deciding how far they will go with their civil disobedience. The government could defuse the conflict by agreeing to discuss working and learning conditions at a separate table, as recommended by its fact finder, or it can stand back and let the process unfold, complete with the court process. Those who engage in civil disobedience have to be ready to accept the consequences. It looks like the teachers are prepared.

A slightly different version was published in The Tyee.
——————————————————————————–

By JEREMY HAINSWORTH, Globe and Mail
Sunday, October 9, 2005
Posted at 8:15 PM EDT>

Vancouver; A B.C. Supreme Court justice ruled Sunday that the province’s public school teachers were in contempt of court after they launched a walkout that shut down British Columbia’s schools. The B.C. Public School Employers Association was seeking to have the B.C. Teachers’ Federation found in contempt of a Labour Relation Board ruling on Friday that said teachers are involved in an illegal job action.

“I declare that the teachers are in contempt of the order of Oct. 6; Justice Nancy Brown said on Sunday. No citizen or group of citizens may choose which orders they may obey,” Judge Brown said.

The judge asked lawyers to return on Thursday so penalties can be decided. Association lawyer Nazeer Mitha called Friday’s walkout by unionized teachers;premeditated and deliberate. He asked that the union produce its financial statements at Thursday’s hearing.

Association lawyer Michael Hancock said the union is paying $2-million a day in strike pay to its members.

No union officials attended the rare Sunday sitting of the court and after the ruling, their lawyer, John Rogers, said he did not know whether the teachers would return to their classes or the picket lines on Tuesday.

Mr. Rogers had told the court earlier he had been advised by the federation that teachers intended to continue with their walkout.

The province’s 42,000 teachers set up pickets on Friday, keeping more than 600,000 students from their lessons.

However, the union is expected to go before the province’s Labour relations Board on Tuesday, asking it to reconsider its ruling on the legality of their strike. “They have gone from full bargaining rights to no rights in collective bargaining,” he said.

The rest of this story can be found at The Globe and Mail

A Parent who supports the teachers

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“Why I’m a parent who supports the teachers’ Strike.” By Gabriel YiuFrom TheTyee.ca
Why I’m a Parent Who Supports the Teachers’ Strike
Link to The Tyee
Published: 2005-10-06 20:14:00

By Gabriel Yiu
TheTyee.ca
It’s a ‘teaching moment’ for all of us.
Teachers will walk off the job today, and they vow to stay out as long as it takes to resolve the dispute. Like many parents, I am worried about how this will affect my kids’ learning and what disruptions to my daily life it may bring.

Nevertheless, after researching the subject and listening to some stakeholders of education in a public forum coordinated and moderated by myself prior to the teachers’ strike vote, I have to declare that I am in support of the teachers’ labour action.

First, the strike vote is overwhelmingly supported by nearly nine out of 10 teachers. The majority of teachers are not “radical”, “aggressive” or “militant”, as a Liberal MLA once branded them; they are teachers in our classrooms, teachers who teach and care for our kids. They made the choice because they were fed up with the government. The terms dictated by the government are simply unacceptable.

The demands made by teachers for their contract renewal are clear, declared Jinny Sims, president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, at the forum attended by 100 concerned citizens. Those demands are, in order of priority: an improved classroom learning environment, a negotiated settlement, and a reasonable wage increase.

In the forum, Liberal MLA Richard Lee and BCTF President Jinny Sims provided conflicting views of the situation of our classroom. Lee cited all the funding increase figures and how class size has been protected by their legislation, while the BCTF president described a gloomy scenario in our schools. Sims declared that what they asked for is increased support for our school system, back to the level of 2002.

Inside Richmond’s classrooms

Puzzled by the conflicting messages, Chak Au, a Richmond school trustee, confirmed the real problems in today’s classroom: bigger class size and more special-need students. Au also verified the unsatisfactory scenes as illustrated by Daphne Bramham’s recent column in the Vancouver Sun. Classes are flooded with too many kids; each could include eight to ten special needs kids (only three were allowed before).

A report released by the parent organization B.C. Society for Public Education, confirms the fact that a heavy burden has been placed on parents who are relied upon to raise funds for school resources; which include such basic needs as buying textbooks.

At variance with Lee’s figures on funding increase, Au stated that Richmond’s teaching force has been cut 10% while student enrolment has dropped by only 2%. School trustees from Vancouver and Burnaby who attended the forum also corroborated Au’s evidence with respect to the situation in their own school district.

Spreading false rumours

In order to win public opinion, the government negotiator spread the news that teachers demanded a 35% raise, but the rumour is adamantly denied by Sims. The rumor has distracted the public from the real issue, i.e. the fairness of four years’ zero increase (a new three-year contract with zero increment, plus this year without a contract due to the expiry of the old one).

As a small business owner, if I inform my employees that they will not receive any raise for four years, despite the fact that the company is making record profit, what will be the consequence? Workers will leave. Those who stay will be demoralized and their performance will be undermined.

When BC was under a record deficit, the government gave teachers a 7.5% raise over three years. With record surplus and a higher cost of living, the government determines that teachers do not deserve any raise. How can teachers swallow it? BC has the most expensive housing and the highest cost of living, but our teachers’ wages are way behind Ontario and Alberta.

By dictating such harsh terms, the Liberal government is responsible for the teachers’ labor action.

Worse, the government’s legislated contract settlement has triggered a severe reaction from teachers. In the BCTF’s earlier released three-stage job action plan, Oct 11-20 is scheduled for rotating strikes and Oct 24 for a full-scale strike. Thanks to the BC Liberals, we now face a full-scale, indefinite strike.

Worth the sacrifice

Given the ruthless terms on the legislation with zero wage increase and no improvement on classroom conditions, teachers have every right to be mad.

The Liberal government’s essential service legislation in 2002 has been condemned by the United Nations’ International Labour Organization as a contravention of international labor standards to which Canada is a signatory. The B.C. government’s latest attempt to buy full-page advertisements to deny the problems teachers are facing in their classrooms is another slap on the face. Teachers were seen crying in their staff rooms when they learned about the government-imposed contract settlement Bill 12.

When the Liberals released their first Throne Speech earlier, they put education at the top of their five great goals. Judging by the way they treat teachers, one cannot help but wonder about the credibility of their promise.

No one wants to see a strike. Nevertheless, we should be aware of the fact that all the rights and privileges that we take for granted today have been gained by means of protests. If the teachers’ job action can force the provincial government to return our education resources to the 2002 level, a short-term sacrifice for a long-term stable and sustainable classroom environment is worthy of our support.

Gabriel Yiu is an award-winning commentator and a former columnist for the Vancouver Sun, Business in Vancouver and Ming Pao. He writes for Chinese newspapers World Journal & Global Chinese Press. He and his wife run a florist business and he ran as an NDP candidate in Burnaby-Willingdon in the last provincial election.

Stories from the line

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This morning one of my sons and I visited a number of Vancouver teacher picket lines. Our first stop was our neighbourhood school, U. Hill. Secondary, to distribute the message of support from the U. Hill PAC. We also took the opportunity to hand out copies of the support letter being circulated through this blog. From there we visited teachers at U. Hill Elementary, Queen Mary, Kitsilano Secondary, Lord Bing Secondary, Jules Quesnel, and Queen Elizabeth before returning home.

At each stop teachers expressed warmth and appreciation for all of the support that we are providing. Teachers from all of the areas reported strong moral support from passing drivers and others, like my son and I who stopped to talk. At Queen Mary a local parent and her children were serving coffee to the dozen or so teachers on the picket line. At Kitsilano a student teacher dropped by to give his support. VSB school trustee Noel Herron was also making his rounds listening to the concerns of teachers on the line.

While Ms. Bond may feel that a day out of school is a learning opportunity lost, my son and I have a different opinion. We learned a lot from the teachers we spoke with and I am pretty sure that My son has gained a very important lesson about the willingness of working people to stand up for their rights and the willingness of our teachers to stand up for public education!

In Solidarity,

Charles Menzies

Bill 12 passes 3rd reading and recieves royal assent (from draft Hansard)

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Mr. Speaker: Hon. members, is it agreed that we take the division now? [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

Some Hon. Members: Aye. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

Bill 12, Teachers’ Collective Agreement Act, reported complete without amendment, read a third time on the following division and passed:

Bill 12, Teachers’ Collective Agreement Act, reported complete without amendment, read a third time on the following division and passed:

YEAS — 42
Falcon, Reid, Coell,Ilich, Chong, Christensen, Les, Richmond, Bell, Bennett, van Dongen, Roddick, Hayer, Lee, Jarvis, Nuraney, Horning, Cantelon, Thorpe
Hagen, Oppal, de Jong, Campbell, Taylor, Bond,Abbott, Penner, Neufeld Coleman
Hogg Sultan Hawkins Krueger Lekstrom Mayencourt Polak Hawes Yap MacKay Black
McIntyre Rustad

NAYS — 26
S. Simpson, Fleming, Farnworth, James,Kwan, Brar, B. Simpson, Cubberley,
Hammell, Coons, Thorne, Puchmayr,gentner, Routley, Fraser, Horgan, Dix,
Bains, Robertson, Karagianis, Ralston, Krog, Chudnovsky, Chouhan, Wyse,
Sather

Mr. Speaker: Hon. members, the House will go into recess now awaiting the Administrator for royal assent. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

The House recessed at 2:17 p.m. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

H038/jsb/1555

The House recessed from 2:17 p.m. to 3:56 p.m. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Royal Assent to Bills

His Honour the Administrator entered the chamber and took his place in the chair. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

Clerk Assistant:
Teachers’ Collective Agreement Act
In Her Majesty’s name, His Honour the Administrator doth assent to this act. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

His Honour the Administrator retired from the chamber. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

[Mr. Speaker in the chair.]

Hon. M. de Jong: Wishing all members and British Columbians a happy and safe Thanksgiving Day weekend, I move that this House do now adjourn. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

Hon. M. de Jong moved adjournment of the House. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

Motion approved. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

Mr. Speaker: This House stands adjourned until Monday, October 17, at 10 p.m. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

The House adjourned at 3:58 p.m. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]

Chudnovsky reads letters of support into the record in Victoria.

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You can find letters of support read into the record by David Chudnovsky in the Hansard record. I’ve copied a brief extract from his speech earlier today in the extended entry that follows: D. Chudnovsky: A letter from some parents, which was copied to me but was addressed to the Minister of Education and the Minister of Labour. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]
We are parents at Britannia Secondary School, Vancouver, and we’re very concerned about the recent teacher labour dispute and the possible government action of imposing a contract on the teachers causing the teachers to walk out, thus disrupting the education of our children. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]
As parents we have seen class size increases, fewer school counsellors, diminished support of our special needs and ESL students, smaller school budgets for supplies and learning resources, old textbooks and higher school fees in Britannia Secondary School. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]
They say, in closing: “We strongly urge you as government officials to consider the real needs of our children and the important role of our teachers in their development. Please try to do your very best to do everything to bring a satisfactory outcome to all parties.” Instructing us and suggesting to us and counselling us, once again, that the amendment before us should be passed, so that we can respond to the kind of point of view that is expressed in this letter. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]
My colleague from Vancouver-Hastings, an hour ago or three hours ago or whenever it was that he was speaking, began to read a letter from an organization called the New Proposals Publishing Society and the Inner-city School Supporters, and unfortunately because I thought he was doing a wonderful job, but time marches on he wasn’t able to finish reading that letter. I’d like to do that, if I may. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]
Again, giving us advice on how we as a House should respond to the kind of situation that we face. They say:
We are parents, students and community members who share a strong sense of respect and admiration for the hard work and dedication that our teachers in the public school system demonstrate on a daily basis. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]
We’re writing to you to express our disappointment in the actions of your government with respect to teachers. We appreciate that you believe you’re putting children first in education, but as parents and others concerned about the welfare of our children, who’ve seen the direct effects of your actions in our public school, we would respectfully disagree. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]
Under your administration the situation in schools has gotten worse, not better. Class sizes have increased, support for learning disabilities has declined, and many schools have inadequate resources. Parent advisory councils have been compelled to pay for funding gaps, while teachers spend more and more of their personal income on needed school resources. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]
Your government has placed the burden of these problems on the backs of our teachers. Not surprisingly they have voted overwhelmingly to say: “No more.” We’re writing to express our support of the actions being taken by our public school teachers. We also ask that Bill 12 be withdrawn and the government enter into direct talks to reach a fair, free and democratic collective agreement with the teachers of B.C. [DRAFT TRANSCRIPT ONLY]
It’s signed by dozens and dozens and dozens of people who live in the province and who, once again, provide advice to this House as to how we should go about resolving this situation.

U. Hill Secondary Letter of Support for Teachers

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FYI: This letter is being hand delivered to U. Hill teachers in Vancouver this morning on the picketline.

University Hill Secondary PAC
October 7, 2005

Dear Teachers,

At our most recent PAC executive we passed a motion of support for the hard work and dedication that you all demonstrate as teachers of our children. We value and appreciate your efforts and stand with you in this moment of difficulty.

In Solidarity,

U. Hill PAC Exec

cc: Vancouver DPAC
Vancouver School Board