04) BC TEACHERS SQUEEZED BY GOVERNMENT & LRB
By Kimball Cariou
Trapped in a government/Labour Relations Board squeeze play, British Columbia's 41,000 public school teachers continue to stand up for their rights and for the interests of students. At this point, one of the few options left for teachers is to withdraw from extra-curricular activities.
In early March, faced with a refusal to bargain by the BC Public School Employers' Association (BCPSEA), the Teachers' Federation escalated their limited job action which began last September. The BCTF held a three-day strike, pressing the Liberal government to back down from its "net zero" mandate which locks BCPSEA into a pay freeze position.
The response by Premier Christy Clark's Liberals was to ram Bill 22 through the legislature. The Bill virtually wipes out limits on class size and composition, and forces the BCTF to engage in so-called "mediation" which will strip crucial clauses from their existing collective agreements. The legislation imposes enormous fines against the union and its members for any new strike actions.
BCTF delegates voted at their March annual meeting to hold a province-wide vote on a resistance strategy against Bill 22. In mid-April, 21,625 teachers voted in favour, and 7,846 against - a 73% rejection of the "Education Improvement Act."
BCTF President Susan Lambert called the result "a powerful message to government that they must rethink Bill 22, listen to the concerns of teachers, respect our rights, and invest in services to students. Teachers are united in opposition to this terrible piece of legislation, the twentieth bill passed by the BC Liberals since 2001 targeting teachers' professional and labour rights."
Lambert acknowledged that teachers made a difficult decision to withdraw from extra‑curricular activities, which "bring so much joy to our engagement with students. We know this will mean the loss of some highly‑valued activities, and we sincerely regret that. But we have to look at the bigger picture and the longer term."
The fightback plan also calls for non-cooperation with the Ministry of Education; a public awareness campaign to educate British Columbians about the impact of Bill 22; a possible future vote on a full withdrawal of services; and working to help elect a new government in May 2013 that will repeal Bill 22.
The BCTF has also applied to the B.C. Labour Relations Board to quash the appointment of Dr. Charles Jago as mediator. Given his past actions and writings, and his financial contributions to the BC Liberals, most observers conclude that Jago was appointed to do the government's dirty work. Jago has until June 30 to mediate the dispute, receiving $2000 per day. He is expected to fail, and will then be directed to submit non‑binding recommendations.
In another development, the LRB ruled on April 19 that teachers have until April 27 to produce report cards with student marks dating back to September 2011. The LRB ruling was triggered by a BCPSEA application which argued that the teachers' refusal to write second‑term report cards amounted to an illegal strike. It remains to be seen how this will play out, since the BCTF maintains that the decision compels its members to perform "struck work." On April 23, the LRB ruled that the Victoria BCTF local, which had refused to direct its members to comply with the report card order along this timeline, was engaged in an illegal strike.
The LRB ruling supports the lie spread by the Liberals that high-quality report cards can be prepared at the push of a button. Much of the government and corporate media attack against the BCTF is based on similar demagogic slanders, accusing the teachers of being "lazy" and "overpaid."
The withdrawal of extra-curricular activities is one of the few cards the BCTF had left to play. The union stresses the fact that by underfunding public education, the Liberals bear the true responsibility for this tactic.
However, the BCTF still has a powerful base of support among parents, students, and some school boards whose positions are not reflected by BCPSEA. The Vancouver Board of Education, for example, passed a resolution stating that "Bill 22 is causing our valued education partners to feel bullied and disempowered, putting any real improvement to our education system in peril. We support and respect the rights of employees to freely and collectively bargain the terms of their employment and we ask you to do the same."
The resolution sharply criticizes the Bill's provision to pay extra to teachers who accept over‑sized classes, and for failing to provide supports for students with special needs. It concludes by backing the call from the Vancouver District Parent Advisory Council to rescind Bill 22.
Despite Christy Clark's deepening unpopularity - and her party's devastating losses to the NDP in two April 19 byelections - the Premier still commands a majority in the legislature. The Liberals intend to ride out the protests, as a scare tactic to gain votes. But in the end, her anti-public education policies may contribute to a resounding defeat at the polls next May.
(The above article is from the May 1-15, 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.)