Negotiating Update

October 2011

Agenda

• Why we are in Job Action• Job Action Do’s & Don’ts• What is happening in terms of negotiations– Phase One– Phase Two

• Action steps

Negotiations

• What we want…– Quality education

for all students– A fair and

reasonable salary– Respect for the

profession– Local solutions for

local conditions

• What they are offering…– No additional funds for

salaries or benefits– Numerous strips of

professional rights• PD autonomy• Seniority• Teacher evaluation

– Referring to cost of “me too” clauses elsewhere

What were Bills 27 and 28?• We…sacrificed salary increases and better benefits to obtain these

improvements…which were illegally taken away

• Class size limits– Max according to grade and subject level– Lab requirements

• Class composition rules– Students with special needs result in an overall lower number of

students in the classroom

BC Supreme Court ruled that the stripping of this legislation violated Teacher’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms

What if the stripped language was reinstated?

• Results in the immediate employment of more than 346 teachers in Surrey!– Include regular classroom teachers– Counsellors– LST, ESL and support teachers

Pay $$$

• We are the 8th lowest paid teacher’s group in the country (lowest west of Quebec)

• We have the highest cost of living in Canada• It takes us 10 years to get to our maximum• Our benefits have not improved in 15 years• Net zero???– Nurses and Vancouver Police both received raises

What the public thinks?

• Despite the perception being portrayed in the media…the MAJORITY OF BC supports it’s TEACHERS!!!

*from BCTF public opinion survey

Provincial Facts

• 600,000 students in BC• 41,000 teachers• BC has the highest child poverty rate in

Canada, yet also the highest average wealth• BC has the lowest corporate tax rate in the

country (and in entire G7)

More provincial facts

• Funding for public education has been in steady decline for many years– Per pupil funding has dropped drastically– Early ‘90s – education received 26% of the

provincial budget….NOW??? 15%• Almost 200 school closures• Hundreds of teacher layoffs, including large

numbers of specialist teachers necessary for our most vulnerable students

Surrey Facts

• 127 schools• Teachers: 4118 total teachers

Students 2010/2011:• 72,278 students • 38,366 Elementary students• 33,912 Secondary students• 3,308 Adult education students

*BC Ministry of Education

• Students in 2010-11:• 48% of public school students in Surrey have a primary language at home other than

English compared to 22.7% for the province • 20.8% of public school students in Surrey are in an ESL program compared to 9.9% for the

province • 9.5% of public school students in Surrey are designated as having special needs compared

to 10.1% for the province*BC Ministry of Education

More about Surrey• Classes 2010:• 5853 - K – 12 classes reported in the district• more than 1225 classes with 30 students or more• 1024 - K – 12 classes with 4 or more students with an IEP• 1807 - K – 12 classes with 4 or more students in an ESL or ESD program• • *BC Ministry of Education, September 30, 2010, does not include students enrolled

in Surrey Connect classes• • Child poverty rate for Metro Vancouver area (includes Surrey) (2005 data):• The before income taxes child poverty rate for Surrey is 22.7%. (BC=21.9%)• The after income taxes child poverty rate for Surrey is 17.3%. (BC=16.1%)

• *See First Call report - http://www.firstcallbc.org/pdfs/EconomicEquality/3-press%20release%20may%2008.pdf

Phase One• How is it going? How long will it last?– Remember 90% of teachers voted in favour of job

action

• Requires that we apply pressure directly to the school & administration– Withdrawal of services is not a personal attack on

school administrators• Is built upon agreement between the employer and BCTF on

what services are NOT essential• These things were agreed to in a mediated process and based

on previous LRB decisions

Do…

• Your JOB!!!– Prepare and teach in the classroom– Do and submit daily attendance– Mark and evaluate student work– Do call home for students that are failing/missing

many tasks

UpdateParent Teacher Night/Interviews•We are NOT doing parent teacher night. Teachers can meet informally with parents as necessary, but should not replicate a parent teacher night/interviews by scheduling meetings with all parents.

Posting Marks •Do NOT post marks on the wall. Teachers have a responsibility to protect confidential information about students and cannot share that information with others. Posting marks, even when done by student number can put you at risk of a complaint.

Grade 12 Marks•Teachers will not “provide any student assessment data to Administrative Officers or the school office, except Grade 12 marks required for graduation, post-secondary applications and scholarship purposes.”•Teachers must only provide this data when requested for the purposes listed above.

Interim Reports

• Teachers will NOT “provide any student assessment data to Administrative Officers or the school office, except Grade 12 marks required for graduation, post-secondary applications and scholarship purposes”.

• This means we are not doing interim reports. Teachers should not replicate these processes by distributing marks to all students/parents.

Job Action Do’s and Don’ts• Do MARK student work and let them know of

their marks on particular assignments• Do NOT write report cards …do share missing

tasks and individual assignment marks • Do let parents know if their child is struggling• Do NOT cover any classes for anyone – unless an

emergency (sports, fieldtrips, etc. are NOT emergencies)

• RESPECT the union and the process…do NOT look for loopholes

DoTeachers may provide feedback to students individually and as necessary by:•Providing comments and marks on individual assignments•Speaking with a student about his/her progress•Providing a list of incomplete assignments

Teachers may communicate with parents about student progress individually and informally by:•Speaking with a parent, face to face•Calling a parent if a student is struggling•Sending a note in the planner •Requesting that a marked assignment be returned with a parent signature•Sending a quick email

Do NOT

• Respond to questions that you do NOT know the answer to

• Collect any money for any reason• Collect any forms (even for fieldtrips)• Look for loopholes as it undermines your

Union and is a direct violation of your code of ethics

• Use firstclass inappropriately

What about???

• Extra - Curricular activities?– Sports and sponsoring teams/clubs?

• Committee work?

• Ask yourself….is this a part of my job description…or is this something that is above and beyond that I do for students?– Be HONEST with yourself and with your students– Find Parent volunteers

Phase Two?

What will it look like?When?

STA Special General Meeting October 26th

• Prior to the BCTF Representative Assembly (Nov.4/5th) the STA wants feedback on:– Impact of phase one– Actions to be considered as a part of phase two

• A motion from a member re: Phase Two will be debated at the October 26th General meeting:“THAT the STA recommend to the BCTF that Phase Two of job action include that members will do no work outside of instructional hours unless the work is of an emergency nature involving health or safety issues.“

Phase Two

• Any escalation of job action would require a province-wide vote by teachers and must be approved under the Essential Service order by the LRB

• Workplace Job Action Committee– Support subcommittee– Picket subcommittee

Not going to be easy…nothing worthwhile ever is!

Personal Preparation

• Be prepared that there maybe a lock-out or strike possibly as early as November or spring

• No ONE KNOWS at this point– Do NOT book any expensive vacations or make

any big purchases– SAVE for when it happens

Be Prepared

• In the event that there is a strike/lock-out… many financial institutions will respect teachers– You can skip a mortgage payment or two or have

them re-added to the term of your mortgage…check with your institution

– Financial institutions like teachers

Action Steps

• Phone & email tree• Complete forms for class size/comp

grievances• Distribute flyers to parents in parking lot• Advocacy - letters to editors, social media,

grocery store conversations

Keep Informed

• Read “Monday Memo’s” and emails from the staff reps

• Sign up for MyBCTF portal• “Better Schools for BC” booklet• Stay in contact with parents and PAC• Questions/confusion– Come see us…or call the STA office• Share info!