Some teachers prepared to plug their noses and vote "yes" on BCTF tentative agreement

by Charlie Smith on September 18th, 2014 at 2:59 PM

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Last night, I was curious to find out what teachers felt about their union's tentative settlement with the B.C. Public School Employers' Association.

So I sent out a tweet asking them to give me one reason why they would vote yes or no in today's ratification vote.

The first response made me laugh: "I will be happy to tell you when the vote is over:)"

The teachers' ratification vote will determine if B.C. public schools open next week.

Here are some other comments directed at me over Twitter.

"I walked the line for better supports for kids. Almost no improvmt in this deal: maybe 1 extra T for ev. 3 schls. CS&C the same."

For anyone who needs translation services, this teacher said that there was virtually no improvement in support for teachers or in class size and composition.

The BCTF was seeking $225 million per year for a learning-improvement fund, whereas the employer was only offering $75 million. On this score, the employer came out ahead with the fund increasing to $85 million by the final year.

Another teacher said that he would vote yes. "But the deal really doesn't improve situation for students or teachers," he tweeted.

A third was also voting yes. That's because the BCTF overcame the employer's attempt to obtain concessions and because of the increase in the learning-improvement fund.

Another teacher said that people are hurting. "I know this is as good as it's going to get. Why beat a dead horse?"

There were also comments from teachers that they're voting yes to avoid further privatization of education.

"My Yes vote based on study of Blueprint, Cisco's ed paper. No vote is Yes for privatization," tweeted one teacher.

Interestingly, that was retweeted several times.

The high-tech giant Cisco has laid out a privatized vision for transforming global education.

It attracted a great deal of attention after Premier Christy Clark announced that she and Advanced Education Minister Amrik Virk will travel to India, including a stop in Bangalore, where Cisco has extensive operations.

Meanwhile, the BCTF has posted nine reasons to vote yes on its website.

It mentions that the education fund will "go exclusively to hiring more classroom and specialist teachers". In the past, according to the BCTF, 20 percent of the fund went "exclusively to CUPE members".

The union also states that the controversial clause E80 was knocked out and replaced by a "reopener" clause.

"The reopener, if we win the appeal(s), will allow us to start any future negotiations with the illegally stripped language back in place," the BCTF says. "That is a position of strength we never had in this round."

The Staffroom Confidential blog, however, claims that this reopener is "throwing away our historic court victory and the bargaining pressure it potentially creates".

In arguing for a no vote, Staffroom Confidential claims that the reopener is "only mildly less offensive than E80".

"In both cases, we have to bargain back what was illegally taken from our contract and the government will probably never have to restore it," it adds.

Perhaps the most amusing tweet came from the person who wanted the following question on today's ballot: "Will you accept TA if @FassbenderMLA resigns Monday."

That, the tweeter suggested, would yield a 100 percent yes vote from the teachers.

Comments

13 Comments

REDDPILL

Sep 18, 2014 at 3:37pm

You know. This new contract for the BCTF may not deliver everything they need or hoped for. But, one thing is clear. Christy Clark won't be around in 6 years when they re-negotiate for another 6 year term. That alone is something to look forward too.

OMG

Sep 18, 2014 at 4:02pm

So if your Twitter survey is accurate, then the educational system is still going to collapse and therefore the teachers will overwhelmingly reject the offer. We all know teachers are only fighting for the kids, so there is no question that they will continue with their life and death struggle to save our children.

Sorry kids, but it's not over yet.

MW

Sep 18, 2014 at 4:11pm

We needed two questions:
Do you want to end the strike and return to work?
and
Do you accept the contact?
Having the two together is misleading.
What you are really getting the answer to is.....
Do you need to go back to work because you are frustrated,
broke and tired of fighting?
I am worried that the public will see a yes vote
as everything is better and ok. My projected classroom
composition will not change at all. I am out over
5 weeks of salary and my class room will not change.
How can I agree to that?

REDDPILL

Sep 18, 2014 at 4:35pm

If the BCTF has the courage to reject this tentative offer and is brave enough to continue this strike? It would be a monumental moment in our history and it would make a 'gloating' Christy Clark look completely out of touch and a little out of control of the situation. I almost hope it happens.

Fred

Sep 18, 2014 at 5:57pm

So our premier announced today zero savings from the strike will go back to education...today, the day of the vote. Think she wants a NO vote? She must go!

Thinker K12

Sep 18, 2014 at 7:35pm

The best money-seeking strategy for teachers is to quit the job and then the educational employer possibly has to spend much more money to recruit new equally-qualified people for teaching. Let the market force speak.The salary should depend on the skills , not on the oppinions of a few persons.The labor market will measure the skill fairly and accurately. The market varies from province to province and from country to country.

Holding my nose

Sep 18, 2014 at 11:07pm

Why is it that wanting to MAINTAIN my standard of living is categorized by so many as a "raise"? Why is it "greedy" to want to have the same real earning power now that I had 10 years ago? Inflation is not only economically healthy, it is also almost a certainty, and is produced by an increase in the cost of materials and labour. Somebody out there is making more than they used to. I am not. Since I started teaching, the real salary - adjusted for inflation - for a teacher with 10 or more years experience has dropped by about 10%. Over the next 5, it will drop by about 2.5% more. This is pretty simple math: Wage increases - CPI = net gain(loss). The CPI has been floating at around 2% for years - this is an economic goal of the bank of Canada. Teacher wage increases (and unionized BC public servants in general) have been averaging somewhere around 1.5% / year. It should be obvious that this is not sustainable over the long term. In short, this deal sucks. The yes vote is simply a capitulation to our personal economic realities - after giving up 6 weeks (yes, it really is 6 when you remember the rotating days in May / June AND the completely unjustifiable 10% lockout deduction), people are broke and tired. Thank God I am not just starting out - its looking pretty grim for the foreseeable future.

Fred

Sep 19, 2014 at 8:30am

Holding my nose - you are so right. Educators have averaged less than 1% per year over the last 16 years, were asking for 1.5% over 5 years and the trolls and premier say they are greedy, when she has approved wage increases for most ministry employees well over 40% over the last 5-6 years?!?!
The duplicity of this admin and their paid trolls knows no limit.

Just sayin'

Sep 19, 2014 at 8:32am

Let's get real here. This is the best deal the BCTF could have hoped to get. Teachers had no strike fund, the government was coming off a recent election win and there is a massive, and growing, over supply of teachers. Striking now was a dumb move. Considering all that teachers did very well. They did get a raise and they did get more money for new teachers. Not everyone gets automatic pay increases for a reduced work load. In the real world people lose their jobs, take pay cuts and/or assume increased work loads all the time. Who cares if teachers at the highest pay levels didn't get a raise for a few years? Being guaranteed a job plus a raise regardless of performance or the economy is a win. You want more pay? Move to another province where it's all roses and lollipops. People in other professions move all the time to further their career. If they had signed this deal in June, when they should have, this deal would have been a home run and teachers would have $10,000 more in their pocket than they do now.