Page1of2 ALetterfromtheteachersofSouthKelownaElementarySchool

J une 3, 2014
Dear Parents/Guardians,
As teachers, we want whats best for our students; thats why we teach. Although we
have been seeking a raise at the bargaining table, another one of our primary goals (for
many of us, it is the primary goal) is to have class size and composition guarantees in
our collective agreement with our employer. Unfortunately, B.C.s government, and our
employer, have actively and strongly resisted the attempts of teachers to have this goal
achieved in bargaining (and have appealed the clear decision of the B.C. Supreme
Court recognizing that the governments legislation stripping these guarantees from our
contracts was illegal and unconstitutional; it is important to note that the J ustice hearing
the evidence in that case found that the government was guilty of bargaining in bad
faith).
As a result, a few weeks ago, we teachers reluctantly decided to engage in limited job
action by withdrawing some services from our employer, in an attempt to pressure our
employer to bargain in good faith and to pressure the government to fully fund an
education system that meets the needs of the students that we teach and care about
deeply. With the interests of those students in mind, we made sure that our limited job
action didnt impact students. Unfortunately, bargaining hasnt gone well, and the BCTF
decided to escalate our job action to include rotating strikes, in addition to the
previously-withdrawn services. At this point, our employer decided to implement a
limited lock out of teachers, with the stated intention of justifying their bid to dock our
pay. The essence of this highly-unusual move on the part of the B.C. Public School
Employers Association (BCPSEA) was to send an official letter to the President of the
BCTF directing teachers not to:
work during recess or lunch,
attend school prior to 45 minutes before class starts or remain at school later
than 45 minutes after it ends, and
attend meetings of almost any kind (ranging from collaborative meetings to
class composition meetings).
The official letter of direction (from the employer of all public school teachers) also said
that teachers were not to substitute other work in place of any and all of the above-
identified duties, regardless of where or when these substitute tasks are performed.
(This letter is on-line, on BCPSEAs website, www.bcpsea.bc.ca, specifically at
http://www.bcpsea.bc.ca/documents/teacher%20bargaining/Bargaining%20Bulletin/00-
MM-Letter%20to%20BCTF%20J im%20Iker%20May%2021,%202014.pdf.)
Unfortunately, and to our dismay, this prevents us from being able to do many of the
things that benefit our students (things that we had been continuing to do during the first
Page2of2 ALetterfromtheteachersofSouthKelownaElementarySchool

stage of our job action). For instance, field trips that extend over the lunch hour are
impossible for us to continue with, since they involve supervising students at lunch time
(something we are normally happy to do, despite the fact that we normally enjoy
supervision-free lunch hours, so that students can benefit from the learning
opportunities that field trips provide), and our employer has directed us not to work
during lunch.
Since the delivery of this official letter of direction, the honourable Minister of Education
and the Ministry of Education have made statements in the media and distributed
unofficial documents that claim teachers are able to do things that we have been
officially directed not to do (and docked pay in relation to), and many of these
statements and documents imply that teachers are choosing not to do the things that we
have been directed not to do (ironically, one of these documents accused the BCTF of
mischaracterizing things). One of these documents was recently distributed to parents,
with the seemingly impartial and objective title Information for parents during BCTF
strike action. We want parents to know that this document does not represent our
perspective; nor does it accurately represent the contents of the letter of direction that
binds us during the period that we are partially locked out of our jobs. Our position, and
that of the BCTF, is that we have been instructed by our employer not to do very
specific things, and our pay has been unilaterally reduced to reflect that reduction of our
workload. Even if we wanted to do those things, we have been officially directed not to
do them. (In contrast to the letter recently distributed to many parents around the
province, you can see a truly balanced document, written by the Vancouver School
Boards Superintendent of Schools, at
http://www.vsb.bc.ca/sites/default/files/publications/Parent%20letter%2026052014.pdf).
We are hopeful that the current dispute between us and our employer will be resolved
soon, but in the meantime, while our employers lockout is in effect, there are many
things that we do not have a choice about, and this is deeply distressing to us.
Moreover, we are saddened by the implications for students, in terms of cancelled field
trips and other similar matters.
We ask for your understanding and support as we advocate - in the face of determined
opposition - for a fully-funded education system that meets the needs of all students. If
you would like more information about our goals for such a system, please consider
visiting http://afairdeal.ca/.
Yours sincerely,
The teachers of South Kelowna Elementary School