Category Archives: Labor

John Cameron has some fantastic photos from the picket lines during the BC teachers’ strike and from the massive rally in Victoria, which shut the city down for a day.

Check them out here.

In his article for MRZine (BC teachers go back to work—Who won the battle?), BCTF activist Bob Rosen says that the strike resulted in a “big victory for teachers.”

After seven legislated agreements in the public sector by the Campbell government, the BCTF’s courage in being willing to take on an illegal strike forced the government to appoint a mediator and to accept a mediated settlement, which broke the pattern of passive acceptance of unilateral imposed contracts. The enormous public support for teachers throughout the illegal strike was itself a very important achievement. It signaled that the public agreed that there are real problems in the schools and teachers’ concerns to have a say in how to improve learning and working conditions is valid. It strengthens the hand of the BCTF enormously in future negotiations and in the roundtable discussions, which have already begun.

I agree that these are all important outcomes from the strike, but the fact remains that teachers did not get the three main items they were fighting for [as the Surrey Teachers Association pointed out in their statement “Nine Reasons to Vote ‘No'”, which by the way, seems to have disappeared from their web site—read on for the full text of the STA’s “no recommendation.”] The goals being: (1) full, free collective bargaining for teachers; (2) a return collective agreement language on working and learning conditions; (3) a fair salary increase.

Rosen also indicates that the CUPE and the BCTF are ready to challenge Jim Sinclair’s leadership of the BC Federation of Labour after he double-crossed the teachers (and CUPE) by pulling the BCFL out of the regional walkouts in what turned out to be the last days of the strike (and while public support for the teachers was growing); butting in to announce that the teachers would vote on Ready’s recommendations before he (or anyone else) had actually seen them; then not showing up for the big rallies in Vancouver and Surrey the last day of the strike.

Eugene Plawiuk’s take on the strike is worth a read. In B.C. Teachers Grab Victory from the Jaws of Defeat he argues

“The teachers had no choice but to compromise, given the weight of the State and its Courts against them…this is a lesson for the whole labour movement, that workers rights are not given by contracts or the State, they are taken when we walk out and take the streets or when we seize our work places and put them under direct worker and community control. Such situations not only challenge the government but the very nature of capitalism.…That they mobilized mass picketing is the least they could do, given the fact that the workers in B.C. have faced over four years of neo-liberal attacks by the Campbell neo-liberal Government. But they failed again, as they did with the nurses strike last summer, to go all the way to a General Strike. At the eleventh hour they once again capitulated to the State.…ONCE AGAIN THE LABOUR MOVEMENT IN CANADA HAS SHOWN THAT IT IS THE HAND MAIDEN OF CAPITALISM AND NOT A WORKERS MOVEMENT.”

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Most of the public-sector contracts expire in March of 2006 and the maneuvering has already started. George Heyman, head of the BC Government and Service Employee’s union says the teachers have inspired public sector unions and as a result there will be no more imposed contracts. CBC reports that “Heyman says unions are in no rush to break the law. But he says if the government tries again to impose a contract on any union, it can expect labour to protest.”

According to Finance Minister Carole Taylor, the government is promising money for public workers next year (she won’t say how much) and in the wake of the teachers’ strike says it is looking to improve the bargaining process with public-sector workers. Finance Minister Carole Taylor says that

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From The Tyee:

TEACHERS’ STRIKE NEWS AND VIEWS: THE WRIGHT WAY TO DEAL WITH TEACHERS’ ANGER—Premier ignored report assigned by his own minister. By David Schreck

SCHOOL STALEMATE: HOW WE GOT HERE—Nearly two decades of wrangling in the Legislature. By Will McMartin and
David Beers

IMAGES FROM ‘A DAY OF ACTION’—Teachers and supporters rally in front of the legislature. Photos by Nick
Westover

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Meanwhile in Quebec, talks have broken down between the Charest government and teachers. The 80,000 teachers iin Quebec have been without a contract for two years and Francoise Stake, head of the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers asked after the talks broke down, “Aside from striking, what other action is there?”

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The Terrace Standard ran a story today (Oct 26) on the CUPE walkout in Northern BC on October 18, which reports that while Northwest Community College wasn’ picketed, “a number of instructors there who teach university credit and other programs and who belong to CUPE didn’t show up for work” and joined striking CUPE workers at locations around the city.

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Video of the Victory march and rally (Oct 17), which shut down the city, is available on the web at WorkingTV.com.

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The Ready recommendations can be found here.Vince Ready’s Recommendations: Nine Reasons to Vote “No”
Surrey Teachers’ Association

The STA Executive is recommending to the membership that we vote “no.” There are two questions that you need to ask yourself. Did we achieve our three goals?

The goals being: ï Full, free collective bargaining for teachers ï A return of our stripped collective agreement language on working and learning conditions ï A fair salary increase.

None of these goals have been achieved. The next question is ìIf we stay out longer will we get anything better?î We canít gaze into the future. We donít know. Will the parents and community still be with us given the bombardment from CanWest and Global, that these are recommendations that
teachers should accept. We also have been advised that the BCTF may face criminal contempt charges on Monday, if teachers are not back at work. Each member should read the recommendations from Ready. They are available on our website at www.surreyteachers.org Each of you will make your own decision. Whatever you decide will be respected.

Please find below nine reasons to vote “No.”

1. The recommendations contain no guarantees for class size and composition limits. The one-time $20 million dollar infusion will mean 330 teachers added province wide.

2. The proposed changes to the School Act do not include any guarantees for actual limits. Nothing prevents Campbell from amending the School Act with a limit of 40.

3. Parent support was predicated on our fight for learning conditions. The public may perceive us to be ditching class-size and composition in exchange for money.

4. The $40 million for harmonization represents only an average of a 2% increase for teachers province wide. This is understood to only affect locals below the average income. We need an increase for all members. Teachers in locals above the provincial average will not receive an increase. Teachers across the province have been out for 2 weeks. We all need an increase. An injury to one is an injury to all!

5. The total money included in the recommendations ($105.2 million) is close to what we have lost in salary during job action. In Surrey, we have given up $10 million in salary over the last 2 weeks. Thus, even the small monetary gains are simply reassigning our own salaries within the school system.

6. Some of the recommendations are one time only. This includes the extra $20 million for learning conditions and the $40 million for Long Term Disability (Salary Indemnity Plan). The greatest costs of our Salary Indemnity Plan are the short term benefit costs. Teachers will continue to fund the total costs of the short term (maximum of 120 days) plan.

7. The recommendations include no improvement to our bargaining rights. Bargaining rights were one of our three principle goals in this political protest. Bill 12 stands and we have imposed working conditions, not a negotiated settlement. The Essential Services legislation stands.

8. The Learning Round Table is not a decision making body, and the increase in teacher representatives still leaves us in a small minority. We cannot expect this body to address
learning conditions meaningfully. Ready notes in his recommendations that the Round Table does not have a mandate to deal with collective agreement issues. The BCTF has been a member of EAC(Education Advisory Committee) for 15 years. This group is comprised of every education
stakeholder group, including government. The BCTF has hammered away on class size, class composition, non-enrolling specialists for years to no avail. The Round Table is nothing new!

9. Non-enrolling ratios are not addressed at all. This was one of our primary bargaining objectives: ratios to ensure adequate teacher-librarians, counselors, learning support teachers, speech and language pathologists and integration support teachers.

In his article The political education of the BC teachers and their leader Jinny Sims Robin Mathews says the BCTF was naive about the politics of the judicial system in BC and should have been prepared to protest the Madamn Justice Brenda Brown’s ruling.

Matthews says “the Supreme Court of British Columbia has joined forces with the Gordon Campbell government; and any organization that is going to fight the Gordon Campbell government has to turn on the B.C. Supreme Court and expose it for its prejudice, its injustice, its war against the population of British Columbia.”

The Monday morning quarterbacking with regard to how union should have responded to the contempt of court ruling is interesting, but for Mathew’s suggested strategies to have worked the BCTF would have had to be able to rely on 100% backing from the the BC Federation of Labor, which in the end it did not.

Barry O’Neil and CUPE seemed ready to go the whole nine yards on the teachers’ strike but BC Federation of Labour president Jim Sinclair, clearly wasn’t interested in pushing too hard on the Campbell government. Sinclair’s lack of enthusiasm was evident from the beginning as he was ready to crawl under a rock when the 5,000 protesters at the Vancouver rally for the teachers (Oct 11) started chanting “General Strike! General Strike!”

[Actually, if you look at the video of the Victory rally (Oct 17) on WorkingTV.com you can see Sinclair raring back laughing while the crowd calls for a general strike.]

The other, more tangle sign of how far Sinclair was willing to go, was his handling of the Hospital Workers strike…and that is not very far at all.

Mathews puts it this way: “Seasoned observers watched Jim Sinclair of the B.C. Federation of Labour some months ago sell out the Hospital Employees Union by signing a bad contract the members were not permitted to ratify. The seasoned observers were waiting for Jim Sinclair to sell out the teachers.

And he gives every appearance of having done so.

In what seems to be a staggering double-cross of the BCTF union, he announced B.C. Federation of Labour was calling off a major teacher-support shutdown of Vancouver. And he announced – in a truly dirty blow delivered to the BCTF – that the BCTF members would vote on the Vince Ready proposals (before BCTF president Ginny [sic] Sims could speak).

That clearly took BCTF by surprise. We can only imagine how the phone lines burned in the next few hours as Jim Sinclair probably told Ginny[sic] Sims he was all-but pulling his support and she’d better crumble before the Campbell government.”

It’s an old story, the mainstream media, the government, the courts, and big labor all sleeping in one big bed, but it looks like it was the BCTF that was getting screwed.

Note that the strike is in part over implementation of NCLB…

Oregon hit by first strike of teachers since 1999

After 18 months of a bitter contract dispute, teachers in the sprawling Oregon Trail School District went on strike Tuesday, the first in the state to do so since 1999.

Teachers and the school board in the Oregon Trail School District remain at odds over several key issues, including salary, guidelines for teacher evaluations, implementation of federal education laws and health care costs, representatives from both sides said.

An analysis of 28 school districts in Pennsylvania shows attendance and test scroes are impacted only slightly by teacher strikes.

The Wilkes-Barre Times Leader reviewed data for school districts in Pennsylvanic where teachers held strikes in the past five years and found no clear relation between strikes and test scores. According to Lehigh University Professor Perry Zirkel, national studies confirm these findings.

The data reviewed by the Times Leader do show that, more often than not, attendance rates sagged the year of the strike and enrollment dropped that year and the next.

The data show that 52 percent of the districts saw average test scores drop the year of the strike. But the changes were usually small. For example, of 13 districts where scores slipped, nine had single-digit drops in the verbal scores and four were in single digits in math.

It all boils down to this: Statistics don’t seem to support the contention that strikes seriously hurt student achievement.

Read the full article here.

BCTF recommends acceptance of Ready recommendations

The Executive Committee of the B.C. Teachers’ Federation will be recommending acceptance of the settlement package put forward by facilitator Vince Ready.

“We are deeply disappointed that the government did not see fit to agree to a letter that would confirm its commitment to class size limits for students in Grades 4 to 12 and to addressing class composition problems,” said BCTF President Jinny Sims.

“However, we know that parents share our determination to achieve improved learning conditions for students. So we are confident that government will enshrine in the School Act these much-needed improvements to benefit all children in B.C. schools,” Sims said.

She added that teachers throughout B.C. would be holding the Liberal government accountable for its actions in implementing the improvements it had committed to through the Ready recommendations.

This weekend teachers will attend local meetings in school districts throughout the province. They will hear detailed information about Ready’s package, will consider the recommendation from their executive committee, and will vote by secret ballot.

The result will be reported out by the BCTF as soon as votes are counted on Sunday evening. Sims will be available to the media after results have been communicated to teachers.

Macleans: Facilitator declares impasse in B.C. teachers’ strike, will submit his report

October 20, 2005 – 13:32

VANCOUVER (CP) – A compromise proposal by the B.C. teachers’ union to end its illegal strike has fallen flat, with the facilitator immediately declaring an impasse and promising to write up a report.

Veteran mediator Vince Ready said it’s clear the parties are stalemated and “just too far apart to come to a facilitated agreement or any kind of a negotiated agreement.”

He came to his conclusion just one day after starting talks with public school employers and the B.C. Teachers Federation.

Ready says given the impact of the strike by 38,000 teachers, he will make non-binding recommendations within hours.

The union had proposed changes to the Schools Act on class size and staffing ratios, along with an alternative three-year agreement to replace Bill 12.

The contentious legislation that imposed a contract and two-year wage freeze on the teachers triggered the school shutdown that began Oct. 7, keeping 600,000 students out of class.

Copyright by Rogers Media, Inc.

The Department of Curriculum Studies approved the following letter in support of the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation, and forwarded it to Premier Campbell today:

Dear Premier Campbell, Minister Bond & Minister De Jong,

The Department of Curriculum Studies in the Faculty of Education at the University of British Columbia strongly opposes the action taken against teachers by the Provincial Government in Bill 12. We fully support teachers’ rights to free collective bargaining and job action when necessary. We urge the Provincial Government to refrain from further anti-teacher action or legislation and resolve to immediately reach a fair contract with the British Columbia Teachers’ Federation.

Signed,

Department of Curriculum Studies, University of British Columbia

cc. Jinny Sims, President, British Columbia Teachers’ Federation
cc. Rob Tierney, Dean, Faculty of Education
cc. Elliott Burnell, President, University of British Columbia Faculty Association

BCTF
BCTF report on discussions with facilitator, Vince Ready

The Globe and Mail
Mediator to release recommendations this afternoon
The mediator in the B.C. teachers strike will issue a series of non-binding recommendations Thursday afternoon, saying the situation has hit a “stalemate.”Report on the discussions with facilitator, Vince Ready

BACKGROUND

On Monday night Vince Ready called the BCTF to say that he’d been appointed as a facilitator to promote discussions that could lead to a resolution of the dispute.
The Full-Time Table Officers, supported by staff, met with Vince Ready four times over Tuesday and Wednesday.
PUBLIC GOVERNMENT RESPONSES

Said they would not meet with teachers while we are on the protest lines.
Would not admit that they were one of the parties working with Vince Ready.
Premier and Minister of Labour spoke about changes to the School Act to make improvements.
Acknowledged need to address class size and class composition.
Reiterated that the round table on learning was the venue for learning conditions discussions.
GOVERNMENT POSITION IN THE DISCUSSIONS WITH READY

No wage increase in a two-year agreement.
No to a third year in this agreement.
No to other forms of compensation, including benefit improvements and payment of Salary Indemnity Plan fee, although this is paid for most other public-sector workers.
No contract language on learning conditions.
Nothing that could be seen as rewarding teachers.
BCTF POSITION IN DISCUSSION WITH READY TO DATE

Zero/zero mandate should not apply to teachers because teachers have paid a high price through the contract stripping in 2002.
Were prepared to take 0% in the first year on salary, and work at other forms of compensation on the understanding that there would be a salary increase in the second and third years.
Needed to see improvements for teachers on call.
Must have class-size limits and class composition guarantees that are grievable.
BCTF PROPOSAL FOR RESOLUTION

BCTF representatives will be bringing the following elements for resolution into the discussion with Vince Ready today:

1. Amendments to the School Act to include:

– class-size limits for Grades 4-12 and limits for classes that have safety and exceptional learning issues, including the successful integration of students with special needs.

– staffing ratios for specialist teachers, such as teacher-librarians, counsellors, and learning assistance teachers.

2. Funding and a process for support for students with special needs that will:

– involve the school-based team (professionals working with the student’s parent).

– protect the confidentiality of the student.

3. a three-year agreement that provides stability to the system and allows time for relationships to improve.

4. salary and benefits improvements in years two and three of the agreement.

TEACHERS COMMITMENT AND DETERMINATION

These elements reflect teachers continued willingness to reach a resolution. We are determined to make improvements for students and for teachers, but we are also problem-solvers. We call on the government to work through the Ready process in the same spirit of co-operation. This is not the time for threats, inflexibility, or posturing.

Teachers are tremendously encouraged by public support. We thank the many, many parents and concerned community members who have expressed their support. We call on them once again to encourage government to acknowledge the best intention of teachers and needs that must be met in our public schools.

We are also heartened by the fact that over 40 school boards have called on the government to either repeal Bill 12, negotiate a settlement, and/or repeal Bill 12.

Teachers remain incredibly strong and determined to make improvements for students and to achieve a fair settlement for teachers. Our goal remains a settlement that meets the needs of students and teachers in this province.

For more information on the specific language being proposed by the Federation, contact your local office.

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B.C. mediator to release proposals in strike
By TERRY WEBER AND ROD MICKLEBURGH
Thursday, October 20, 2005 Posted at 1:37 PM EDT
Globe and Mail Update

The mediator in the B.C. teachers strike will issue a series of non-binding recommendations Thursday afternoon, saying the situation has hit a “stalemate.”

Mediator Vince Ready made the announcement after the teachers took the unusual step of publicly releasing their own proposals aimed at bringing the dispute to an end.

The teachers’ proposals dealt with issues of class size and staffing ratios. They also proposed a three-year agreement with no wage increase in the first year but a “reasonable” improvement in pay and benefits in the second and third.

B.C.’s 38,000 teachers have been on the picket line in what the province’s labour relations board has ruled an illegal strike since Oct. 7. About 600,000 public school students have been affected by the labour dispute.

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Mr. Ready did not say specifically when the recommendations would be delivered to the two sides, but he suggested that both should have the new proposals by some time Thursday afternoon.

Earlier Thursday, the B.C. Teachers Federation said they were releasing their own proposals as a means of offering “a more creative problem-solving approach” to the dispute.

“We want to inform teachers, parents, and students of the BCTF’s willingness to seek common ground and find solutions that will work for teachers and students in our schools,” federation president Jinny Sims said.

Under those proposals, classroom size limits would be imposed for Grades 4 through 12 and for classes with “safety and exceptional learning issues.”

The union also called for staffing ratios that would be applied to specialist teachers, such as teacher-librarians and counsellors.

The teachers’ federation did not offer specific numbers on how classes would be limited or what ratios they would consider acceptable.

The union also said a three-year contract would provide stability to the system and allow time for “relationships to improve.” The union said it wants “reasonable improvements” in salary and benefits in the second and third year of the agreement.

“These elements reflect teachers’ continued willingness to reach a resolution,” Ms. Sims said.

The latest developments came as the province braced for another massive labour demonstration on Friday.

The Canadian Union of Public Employees has called for a rally of its members in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley regions of British Columbia. Labour groups around the province have been staging rallies and protests in other areas throughout the week.

On Thursday, CUPE workers were scheduled to stage rallies in Vernon, Penticton, Kelowna and Kamloops.

A spokeswoman for the union said Friday’s rally in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley regions is still scheduled, although the union is keeping a close eye on the state of talks in the dispute.

“Certainly if there’s movement and the signals from the labour movement are stand down, then we would definitely do that,” spokeswoman Roseanne Moran told globeandmail.com.

CUPE represents about 40,000 workers in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley region, although the union has said workers in “necessary services” and transit workers would remain on the job.

Also on Friday, B.C. Supreme Court Justice Brenda Brown is scheduled to decide on whether further financial penalties should be imposed after the teachers’ union failed to follow a court ruling ordering them back to the classroom.

Judge Brown has already frozen the federation’s assets, effectively preventing it from funding the job action or paying teachers $50-a-day in strike pay.

The B.C. Public School Employers Association has asked the judge to impose fines in addition to that order.

Almost immediately after the teachers walked out, the B.C. Labour Relations Board deemed the action illegal and ordered the teachers back to work. That decision was later upheld in court.

The teachers remained off the job, however, calling the action a political protest against the provincial government’s decision to pass legislation imposing a two-year contract.

The legislation offers no pay increase for teachers and doesn’t let them negotiate on issues like class size and composition.

The provincial government has repeatedly called on the striking teachers to go back to work and said it will not negotiate directly with them until they abide by the court order directing them back to class. A special prosecutor has also been appointed by the provincial criminal justice branch to look at whether criminal contempt charges should be brought against the teachers’ union.

“We do not get to obey the laws that we like and disobey the laws that we don’t like, and that is the central issue here,” B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell said in a televised address on Monday.

“This is not a labour dispute, as this illegal action has been characterized by some unions.”

Parents will be rallying in support of striking teachers across the city today. Details can be found here.

There will also be a public meeting:
“Building support for teachers: The hows and whys of supporting the teachers”

Speaker: Ian Weniger, teacher and BCTF member

Thursday, October 20th 7:30 p.m.
2017 West 5th Avenue, Kits (Maple House Activity Room)

contact info–BackBCTeachers@union.org.za