Teachers Defiant

Vancouver Sun:

Teachers defiant
B.C.’s labour movement put on a strong show of support for striking teachers Tuesday with demonstrations around the province, including a boisterous gathering of about 2,000 trade unionists and members of the public outside the provincial cabinet offices in Vancouver.

Parents’ lawsuit seeks damages
A class-action lawsuit that alleges negligence by striking teachers, their union and their union president has been launched in Victoria.

The Globe and Mail:

Taylor rules out wage increase for teachers
If the British Columbia’s Liberals give teachers a pay increase, they’ll face a “revolution” from other public servants who saw their wages remain unchanged this year as part of B.C.’s public-service wage freeze, the province’s Finance Minister said yesterday.

Teachers v. law
British Columbia’s 42,000 public-school teachers obviously have serious grievances against the provincial government, grievances that should not be taken lightly. It’s also plain that their bargaining relationship is dysfunctional, as the government itself acknowledges. The proof is that the two sides have repeatedly been unable to reach a negotiated settlement, regardless of which party has been in power. But that does not justify the teachers’ decision to flout the law by staging an illegal strike.

BC teachers, government playing game of chicken
Striking teachers and the B.C. government are playing a high-stakes game of chicken to win public support in a thorny dispute that has shut down public schools since Friday and kept 600,000 students out of classrooms.

World Socialist Web Site
BC teachers defy anti-strike law, court rulings

The National Post
Calls for general strike
About 2,000 striking teachers rallied against a government-imposed contract Tuesday night, vowing not to return to work until a negotiated settlement is reached and urging a general strike across the province.

Vancouver Sun

Teachers defiant: Unions protest across province

Janet Steffenhagen and Jonathan Fowlie
Vancouver Sun

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

B.C.’s labour movement put on a strong show of support for striking teachers Tuesday with demonstrations around the province, including a boisterous gathering of about 2,000 trade unionists and members of the public outside the provincial cabinet offices in Vancouver.

But there were no signs of conciliation from either side in the dispute and public schools are expected to be closed again today for a third day, keeping about 600,000 students out of their classrooms.

Some union leaders have hinted at a possible provincewide general strike to back the B.C. Teachers’ Federation strike, but it wasn’t clear Tuesday that other unions were ready to go that far, especially since many have already signed contracts that contain much less than their members had wanted.

While union leaders lined up to support the teachers at the Tuesday-evening rally in front of Canada Place, the closest anyone came to acknowledging the repeated crowd chants for a “general strike” was B.C. Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair, who told the cheering crowd, “We hear you,” before quickly saying he hopes such action will not be necessary.

“You heard major union leaders saying today that this is our fight now and I think that has major significance,” he said after the rally.

“I hope the government hears this, because frankly, none of us want to go down this road, but I’ll tell you, all of us will,” he added.

Canadian Union of Public Employees B.C. president Barry O’Neill told the rally: “This is a fight for worker rights in this province.

“This fight is long overdue,” he said, expressing his union’s support for teachers, but stopping short of announcing direct action.

Adding his own union’s support, B.C. Government and Ser vice Employees’ Union president George Heyman told the crowd he is watching the situation very closely, and is worried about what it may mean for future negotiations in B.C.

“We know if they [the government] are allowed to get away with this one more time, none of us are safe,” he said.

“The BCGEU supports the BCTF,” he said. “We’re there with you.”

As of late Tuesday, the only meeting planned between teachers and their employer was an appointment Thursday in B.C. Supreme Court, where a judge is expected to slap a fine on the B.C. Teachers’ Federation for refusing to end a strike declared illegal last week by the B.C. Labour Relations Board.

The labour board is reconsidering its ruling this week in response to a request from the union.

The last time B.C. Supreme Court fined a union for an illegal strike was in 2004, when the Hospital Employees’ Union was ordered to pay $150,000 for a three-day walkout. No penalties were assessed against individual union members or leaders in that case.

The B.C. Public School Employers’ Association, the bargaining agent for B.C.’s 60 school boards, would not say what arguments it might make to the court — only that its goal is to return students to their classrooms, not to be punitive.

Several school boards, meanwhile, have been pressing the government for action. At least two — Vancouver and Coquitlam — have called on the Liberals to rescind the law, known as Bill 12, that imposed a new contract on teachers last week and spurred their walkout Friday.

“Bill 12 does nothing to ensure long-term stability in public education,” said Allan Wong, the Vancouver board’s vice-chair.

Coquitlam trustees said they were extremely disappointed with the passage of the law, noting teachers — up to that point — had been following the rules put in place by the Liberals in 2001 when they declared education an essential service and restricted the teachers’ right to strike.

“We call for the government to rescind Bill 12 and allow the further negotiations to take place,” the board says. “The responsibility of all levels of government should be to maximize the educational opportunities of students through a positive relationship with the professional teachers of this province.”

The union is demanding improvements in classroom conditions, a 15-per-cent wage hike over three years and a restoration of full bargaining rights. Union leader Jinny Sims has said repeatedly that members will not return to work until their demands are met.

The government has said it will discuss classroom conditions with the union but won’t allow teachers to negotiate learning conditions as part of their contract (as was the case prior to 2002). The Liberals have also stated that teachers, like other public servants, won’t get a pay increase for 2004 or 2005.

The teachers’ last contract, which was imposed in January 2002, expired in June 2004.

Despite a strong order from the court on Sunday for teachers to return to work, they appeared united Tuesday.

The NDP called Tuesday for Premier Gordon Campbell to return to the province and show leadership. He is currently travelling across the country talking about aboriginal relations.

“What is needed right now from the premier is a personal commitment to sit down and talk directly with teachers,” said NDP leader Carole James. “Mr. Campbell must make a personal guarantee that real action will be taken by his government to resolve the issues of class size, class composition and the other learning conditions issues at the centre of this dispute,” she said.

“By his absence, Premier Campbell is sending the wrong signal to all British Columbians. He is acting as though he doesn’t care that over 600,000 young people are not in school.”

Education Minister Shirley Bond replied that her government demonstrated its willing to investigate the concerns of teachers last week when it promised to set up a round table with other stakeholders to discuss the issues. But she said the union insists such issues must be discussed at the bargaining table, where other players won’t have a voice.

jsteffenhagen@png.canwest.com

jfowlie@png.canwest.com

© The Vancouver Sun 2005

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Vancouver Sun

Teachers defiant: Parents’ lawsuit seeks damages

Richard Watts
Victoria Times Colonist

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

VICTORIA — A class-action lawsuit that alleges negligence by striking teachers, their union and their union president has been launched in Victoria.

In a statement of claim filed Tuesday at noon, the suit accuses teachers, their union and Jinny Sims of going on strike despite legislation and legal decisions that have declared their actions illegal.

The negligence, the statement of claim contends, includes the failure to instruct union members to return to work and a lack of effort to maintain essential service levels.

Named as a lone plaintiff in the suit is Jacqueline Grant.

Lawyer Denis Berntsen said he had advised Grant not to speak publicly about the suit, but he said it is really about enforcing a principle. “It’s a matter of not having two levels of society — one that doesn’t have to follow the law and one that does,” he said.

Berntsen said a class-action suit works by allowing many individuals to pursue a claim through one lawsuit. The next step will be for the teachers to file a statement of defence.

After that, a Supreme Court hearing must be held to determine if the lawsuit can be certified as a class-action. If that happens, people with claims must be notified, possibly through media ads, so they can submit a claim.

No money amounts have been named in the suit yet, but Berntsen estimates the strike is costing B.C. parents $12.5 million each day.

That’s based on a rough estimate of $50 per day for the 250,000 students (out of 600,000 or so) whose parents are affected financially by the strike. Those effects could be anything from the need to take time off work to fees for child care.

Debra Swain, president of the Greater Victoria Teachers Association, said she couldn’t comment on the lawsuit because the BCTF had not been served with any papers and federation lawyers haven’t had a chance to look at it.

“But I certainly can say that as educators we are sorry that parents have been impacted by our job action and by our political protest,” Swain said.

“We’re not in this action only for ourselves, but also for our students, and it’s just unfortunate that parents are impacted and students are impacted.

“However, we feel very strongly that even though there will be some short-term pain, there will be long-term gains and we’re doing this to benefit not only ourselves as educators but also our students.”

Kim Howland, president of the B.C. Confederation of Parent Advisory Councils, said the organization hadn’t heard anything about the class-action suit and didn’t have a statement prepared.

Victoria district PAC president John Bird said the Victoria confederation is meeting today at the Cedar Hill Recreation Centre to discuss issues surrounding the illegal walkout.

© The Vancouver Sun 2005
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The Globe and Mail
Taylor rules out wage increase for teachers
By OMAR EL AKKAD
Wednesday, October 12, 2005 Page S3

TORONTO — If the British Columbia’s Liberals give teachers a pay increase, they’ll face a “revolution” from other public servants who saw their wages remain unchanged this year as part of B.C.’s public-service wage freeze, the province’s Finance Minister said yesterday.

In a meeting with The Globe and Mail’s editorial board, Carole Taylor blasted what she called a clearly dysfunctional system for working out contracts. However, she ruled out wage increases, and said she isn’t surprised the situation has reached a point where more than 40,000 teachers — who are represented by the B.C. Teachers’ Federation — are on an illegal strike.

“[The BCTF] has never been able to negotiate a contract provincially yet,” Ms. Taylor said. “It’s not, in a sense, a real surprise that we couldn’t get to negotiate an agreement because no one has ever been able to with the BCTF.”

BCTF president Jinny Sims called the minister’s remarks preposterous.

“The government created this crisis and now they want to sit on the sidelines and pretend they had nothing to do with it,” Ms. Sims said.

“This amounts to an abdication of responsibility.”

B.C. public school teachers remained on strike yesterday despite a weekend court ruling that found them in contempt for not abiding by an order to return to work. More than half a million students have been out of classrooms since Friday.

The court is set to rule tomorrow what punishment the teachers’ union will face for breaking the law. BCTF may be fined hundreds of thousands of dollars a day for as long as teachers refuse to go back to work. However, Ms. Sims said the union is prepared for the consequences.

Besides wages, one of the main sticking points between the teachers and their employer, the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association, is class size and composition: for example, how many special-needs children or children for whom English is a second language are included in each class.

The B.C. Finance Department has set up a policy roundtable to discuss these and other issues. Ms. Taylor said she hopes a variety of stakeholders will attend, including teachers, parents and the union. So far, the BCTF has refused, she said.

Ms. Sims said the union has never refused to attend the roundtable, but added that now is the time to deal with the crisis at hand, not long-term issues. She said the BCTF is willing to enter negotiations with no preconditions, to discuss issues such as wage increases and class composition.

The Liberals stripped provisions around class makeup from the teachers’ contract in 2002. The government has also designated teaching an essential service, severely curtailing labour action.

The B.C. government has faced some criticism that it is holding out on teachers at a time when the provincial surplus has grown to $1.3-billion, shattering previous estimates. However, Ms. Taylor said the province has benefited from a perfect storm of high commodity prices, booming construction and low unemployment rates unmatched in decades. All this good fortune is unlikely to last forever, she said.

“We know we’re at the top of many cycles right now.”

Ms. Taylor said she still hopes an agreement can be reached through the department’s policy roundtable.

“I’m still hopeful that the BCTF will find a way to the table because it is what they’ve been asking for: to talk about these issues,” she said. “And we’re saying, ‘Yes, let’s do it.’ ”
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The Globe and Mail
Teachers v. the law
Wednesday, October 12, 2005 Page A22

British Columbia’s 42,000 public-school teachers obviously have serious grievances against the provincial government, grievances that should not be taken lightly. It’s also plain that their bargaining relationship is dysfunctional, as the government itself acknowledges. The proof is that the two sides have repeatedly been unable to reach a negotiated settlement, regardless of which party has been in power. But that does not justify the teachers’ decision to flout the law by staging an illegal strike.

The Liberal government passed legislation last week imposing a contract that calls for no wage increase and dismisses efforts by the B.C. Teachers’ Federation to negotiate a limit on class sizes and better working conditions. Despite a $1.3-billion budget surplus, the Liberals said they could not treat teachers any differently from other public-sector employees who had accepted the wage freeze. Ninety per cent of those contracts are coming up for renewal next year and the teachers will be on an equal footing.

Despite their understandable anger, the teachers did not have the right to walk off the job. The strike option was essentially removed from their arsenal in 2001 when the Liberals designated education as an essential service. So it was no surprise when the provincial Labour Relations Board declared last week that the job action was illegal. On Sunday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown ruled that the teachers were in contempt of the board’s order. The judge said her decision had nothing to do with whether the legislation was fair, but solely with the fact that the teachers were in breach of a court order. “No citizen or group of citizens may choose which rules they will obey.”

There is room in society for civil disobedience, when people feel compelled to flout the law on principle. But there has to be strong reason for doing so and a willingness to accept the consequences. The B.C. teachers obviously believe they have such a case and they certainly appear prepared to accept the legal consequences of their actions. But it’s hard to see where the terrible injustice is in a government taking a tough stance to rein in costs. And when teachers disobey the law, the ramifications go far beyond the legal. What message does it send to students when their teachers are prepared to put their own interests above the rule of law?

As for workplace issues, the Liberals have proposed a policy roundtable to air such important education issues as class sizes and composition, special needs and classroom resources. The roundtable would include school trustees and parents, as well as teachers. It would not give teachers the clout they want in determining where government invests its education dollars, but it would give them an opportunity to engage the people they need on their side, namely the parents, on the issues they consider most vital.

So far, the union is refusing to take a seat at the table. Like their illegal walkout, this seems a shortsighted response founded more on unhappiness and frustration than on reason. Shouldn’t teachers, of all people, set a better example than that?
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The Globe and Mail
B.C. teachers, government playing game of chicken
By DIRK MEISSNER
Wednesday, October 12, 2005 Posted at 7:36 PM EDT
Canadian Press

Victoria — Striking teachers and the B.C. government are playing a high-stakes game of chicken to win public support in a thorny dispute that has shut down public schools since Friday and kept 600,000 students out of classrooms.

Neither side has blinked, because neither the teachers nor Premier Gordon Campbell’s government have yet to figure out who’s winning the public’s hearts, says Victoria political consultant Brad Zubyk

“Right now it’s a game of chicken,” Mr. Zubyk said Wednesday. “The public supports the teachers’ position on educational reform but I don’t think it’s unrealistic to think that that public support could evaporate as the inconvenience of the strike begins to hit home with parents.”

A poll commissioned for the B.C. Federation of Labour conducted last Thursday and Friday suggested more than 56 per cent of British Columbians supported the teachers’ position, compared with about 19 per cent who backed the government.

Mr. Zubyk said the government, bolstered by a weekend Supreme Court ruling declaring the teachers in contempt of court, appears to have hardened its stance, refusing to bargain with the province’s estimated 42,000 teachers until they return to work.

But the tough talk by Labour Minister Mike de Jong and Shirley Bond, Minister of Education, could backfire if the public begins to view the Liberals as bullies, Mr. Zubyk said.

“The government has worked hard to try and reposition itself as softer,” he said. “For all the work they put in to be the kinder, gentler government, some of the stuff coming out of Shirley Bond and Mike de Jong (Wednesday) sure harkened back to the first term.”

Mr. Campbell’s Liberals used their restraint agenda during their first term in 2001 to cut government jobs and programs. The government used legislation to impose contracts on doctors, nurses, teachers, Crown lawyers and hospital workers.

The government-imposed hospital workers’ contract contained a wage rollback and sparked a bitter five-day illegal walkout.

Last week, the government legislated a contract on the teachers.

Teachers have already been found in contempt of court for walking off the job despite a B.C. Labour Relations Board ruling that their strike would be illegal. The union risks fines and jail time for its leadership.

The union’s appeal to have the board’s ruling reconsidered was rejected Wednesday. A board panel said it was satisfied there was no denial of natural justice or procedural fairness in issuing the original order last week.

Teachers are seeking a 15 per cent wage increase. The contract imposed by the government, which runs until next spring, doesn’t include a wage increase.

The government has appointed an industrial inquiry commissioner to suggest ways to improve the bargaining structure.

Ms. Bond said her government will do all it can to protect teachers who want to cross illegal picket lines in front of B.C. schools.

Teachers concerned about the strike have been calling her ministry and school board offices with questions about the dispute, she said.

“There are a number of teachers at this point just grappling with wanting to be back in their classrooms,” Ms. Bond said. “It’s time for the teachers’ union to actually say, ‘let’s go back to the classroom and let’s move forward with some discussions that can take place.”

She said she was shocked to learn about 50 per cent of the teachers voted on the ballot that asked if the union should take illegal strike action.

But the B.C. Teachers’ Federation said the teachers gave the union a strong mandate with two separate votes.

Almost 32,000 teachers cast ballots in the original strike vote that gave the union an 88 per cent vote in favour of strike action.

After the government passed legislation, almost 23,000 teachers voted over two days to endorse the BCTF’s decision to mount an illegal strike. Of the teachers who voted in the second ballot, they gave the union 90.5 per cent support.

“Here we have a huge number of teachers who turned out to vote and they’ve given us a very clear mandate,” said BCTF president Jinny Sims. “They are on the picket line and they are honouring the picket line.”

Mr. Zubyk said he senses the two sides believe the dispute is still too volatile for either one to consider any bold moves.

“I think they’re both experimenting,” he said. “I don’t think anyone’s got a clear win right now.”

A court hearing Thursday in Vancouver is expected to declare the penalties the teachers will face for continuing their strike.
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Striking B.C. teachers call for general strike to protest legislated contract

Steve Mertl
Canadian Press

Wednesday, October 12, 2005

VANCOUVER (CP) – About 2,000 striking teachers rallied against a government-imposed contract Tuesday night, vowing not to return to work until a negotiated settlement is reached and urging a general strike across the province.

The rally outside the Liberal government’s cabinet offices was among 18 around British Columbia on the second day of an illegal walkout by about 42,000 public school teachers. Teachers have already been found in contempt of court and risk being fined while their union leaders may be jailed for the illegal walkout.

Jinny Sims, president of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation, told the crowd that teachers won’t stand for having their collective rights taken away by a legislated contract.

“Like other working people we have the right to negotiate improvements in our students’ learning conditions, which happen to be our working conditions and we will never apologize in asking to negotiate a fair salary settlement,” Sims said to cheers.

Sims apologized to parents, however, for the inconvenience the strike is causing but said teachers across Canada are supporting their B.C. colleagues’ fight for students’ learning conditions.

Teachers want a cap on class sizes and say students’ education is being hampered by a lack of teacher-librarians, ESL teachers and counsellors.

Jim Sinclair, president of the B.C. Federation of Labour, called on the Liberal government to sit down with the teachers’ union and come up with a negotiated collective agreement.

“We are here today because this government is in serious, serious error,” Sinclair said of the Liberals’ move to impose a contract on teachers for the second time in three years.

Kit Krieger, who led the B.C. Teachers’ Federation from 1997 to 1999, said in an interview Tuesday that the government is to blame for radicalizing most of the teachers’ union’s members by imposing contracts and refusing to improve working conditions.

“In my view teachers will not abandon this cause because there is no alternative,” said Krieger, head of the West Vancouver Teachers Association.

“We can’t go back to a bargaining table that says no to salary and no to working and learning conditions. In terms of how it ends, it can’t be worse than it is.”

Teachers spent a second day on picket lines Tuesday in spite of a rare holiday weekend court ruling that found them in contempt of a Labour Relations Board back-to-work order.

The hearing Thursday will determine potentially punishing sanctions against the union and its leadership.

But Krieger said the B.C. government is underestimating the resolve of rank-file teachers, whom the federation’s critics have suggested are being misled by radical leaders.

“Teachers are by inclination and culture a not very militant body,” he said. “This government has made militant the body of teachers in British Columbia.

“The leadership is undoubtedly more militant than the membership historically. Right now I think it is the membership that is telling the leadership that it wishes to pursue this course.”

NDP Leader Carole James said Premier Gordon Campbell should cut short his cross-Canada trip and come back to deal with the teachers’ strike.

She said it’s time for the government to find a way to end the dispute.

Premier Gordon Campbell is on a tour promoting better relations with First Nations.

The teachers wanted a 15 per cent pay increase over three years and reinstatement of working conditions such as class size and resources such as library staff into bargaining.

The government passed legislation last Friday imposing a wage freeze until next June and extending the current contract while inviting teachers to talk about reforming the whole bargaining process.

It’s the fourth time since 1993 the government has imposed a contract on the province’s teachers.

Sims, while offering to return to bargaining, has vowed teachers will stay out of their classrooms until they get a satisfactory deal.

While individual union members likely won’t face fines, the federation and its leaders could face stiff financial penalties. But Krieger said he doubts Sims will blink first.

“I don’t know of a teacher leader who was not willing to go as far as he or she has to go in order to carry out the wishes of the membership,” he said.

If anything, there are signs the teachers’ defiance is growing if public reaction to picketing teachers in toney West Vancouver is anything to go by.

“I am astounded by the support, the honking, the waving,” said Krieger. “This is something we’re not used to here.”

© The Canadian Press 2005