Like many of you, I have been in my classroom full time during these past two+ COVID 19 years. I understand through my own experience the issues and difficulties we have faced. From crowded classrooms, insufficient mask mandates, lack of air flow, and the stresses that come from the rapid shifts from online to hybrid to new timetables/bell schedules, I know what to advocate for because I am in the same boat.
The Executive, Table Officers, and our reps to Ministry meetings have worked hard to represent your concerns, but the Ministry and the PHO have not addressed all our needs. We were finally successful in advocating for a full K-12 mask mandate, and we have had some success in improvements to ventilation and access to masks and tests, but I continue to advocate for sufficient reduction in classroom density,and for a focus on teacher wellness. . We’ve been working with unnecessary stress and risk in the midst of this pandemic.
Adult Educators Fundamental to me is the union principle that our role is to ensure fair treatment for all members. There should be no “some of us with less than the rest”. Adult educators have, for far too long, been a group of our members who are not afforded the working and learning conditions that other members have. As President in Burnaby in the 1990s, adult educators unionized as our members. 30+ years later, it’s beyond time that they and their counterparts across this province achieved parity in our Collective Agreement.
Prep time and job security are two of the key issues these colleagues are still waiting for us to achieve. I commit to doing all I can to hold the employer to treating all employees with the same respect and remuneration.
Rae was a key organizer of this Rally Against Racism at Vancouver City Hall. Photo: CBC
This Round of Bargaining
Our bargaining conference set clear priorities that represent our membership, and we need to have a strong strategy to bring focus to our issues. The tiny gains made in the last round are not enough, and we must make sure that membership priorities for ourselves and our students are addressed. The way we will do this is by mobilizing our membership to consistently speak to our key themes, across the province, through all mainstream media, social media and community networks. I’m committed to involving all members’ voices in these decisions and actions as we work together to direct and support our provincial and local bargaining teams. We know that when we are organized, informed, and involved, we can improve our working and our students’ learning conditions.
A Fully Funded System
It is imperative that education funding be a cornerstone of a just recovery as we move out of the COVID 19 recession. Student supports, resources for teachers, and healthy, safe schools must be priorities to ensure our communities thrive. Government’s funding neglect of the past 20 years has been amplified and exasperated by the pandemic. Our students cannot wait any longer for the education and supports they deserve. In particular, students with exceptionalities must be a focus for funding and support.
TOC Issues and Fees
While recent rounds of bargaining have see positive changes to Teacher-On-Call salary issues, we still have a long way to go with regards to benefits, access to employer- provided sick leave, and BCTF- provided income security through the Salary Indemnity Plan (SIP). I’m unwavering on these issues regarding equitable access for our colleagues.
Rae in solidarity with Local 40.
For a more Inclusive Union
Making our union more equitable is both a principled stand (it is the right thing to do) and a practical one (it strengthens the BCTF). We have been handed this moment of change to move beyond shallow measures of diversity and toward meaningful change that creates decision-making structures— including the RA, the Executive, and the Bargaining Conference—not only more diverse, but more inclusive and representative of the views of all of our membership. At the Executive, I have pushed for the changes recommended by our members at the Issues Sessions on Racism and other recent Task Forces.
I am committed to making all our decision-making structures safe and welcoming for BIPOC members. We must look at our structures through a lens that centres racial equity. Our work includes diversifying on issues of class, gender, disability, sexual orientation and other dimensions that require an anti-oppression approach. Equity is a leadership responsibility, and if I am one of your full-time Table Officers, I will continue to make sure we focus on these issues, both in our own structures and in relation to holding our employer to account.