04) BC TEACHERS STRUGGLE ENTERS NEXT STAGE

By Kimball Cariou

     Nearly a year into their struggle to achieve a new collective agreement, 41,000 British Columbia teachers are voting this month on the next stage of their campaign. According to leaked media reports, members of the BC Teachers Federation will consider a package of tactics, from dressing in black and wearing union buttons on the job, up to a full-scale work stoppage.

     After limited labour action since last fall, the BCTF held a three-day walkout during March, before legal rulings and new provincial legislation became factors. The Clark Liberal government's Bill 22, an omnibus piece of legislation which opens the door to massive transformations of the entire public education system, includes draconian fines to the union and its individual members for strike action.

     In the meantime, Charles Jago has been appointed a so-called "independent" mediator in the dispute. For his $2000 per day salary, Jago is to come up with a proposed settlement by the end of June - but the deal cannot go beyond the government's so-called "zero mandate." In effect, teachers can expect neither a long-awaited pay increase, nor improvements in classroom teaching and learning conditions.

     Jago, a former President of the University of Northern British Columbia, has no experience in labour disputes, and little expertise in the K-12 education system. However, he has donated at least $2000 to the BC Liberals in recent years, for tickets to enter Liberal fundraising golf tournaments. His one apparent qualification for the position was a report he wrote in 2006 for the B.C. Progress Board, in which he condemned the principle of seniority as a factor in school staffing decisions.

     BCTF President Susan Lambert has pointed out that Jago's appointment by Education Minister George Abbott raises a "reasonable apprehension of bias", especially given the news that Jago was consulted in drafting Bill 22.

     Adopted in-camera at the BCTF annual meeting, held in Vancouver in mid-March, the teachers' "Bill 22 Action Plan" includes several components.

     During the rest of the 2011-12 school year, teachers will continue to perform their regular work, without participating in any BC Ministry of Education initiatives, and will refrain from all extra‑curricular/voluntary activities. They will write a single year‑end report card for each student.

     The Action Plan, which goes to a vote on April 17-18, includes advertising, public meetings, and printed materials to educate British Columbians about the impact of Bill 22, and to mobilize opposition around the province. A province‑wide vote on a full withdrawal of services will be held on a date determined by the union's Executive Committee.

     The union will consider additional votes as necessary, accompanied by legal advice for members, who face penalties of $450 per day for strike action under Bill 22. A special representative assembly of the union will be held during August to consider further steps for a "Year of Action" leading up to the May 2013 provincial election. The Year of Action is expected to include monthly co‑ordinated activities, and a "commission of inquiry" into the mismanagement of public education in BC.

(The above article is from the April 16-30, 2012, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)