FDTA History: 1987 - 1988
- Bill Fite, President
- George Popp, Vice President
- Kate Noakes, Secretary
- Sandy Cervo, Treasurer
- Cliff Paluck, LAR
- Mike Tomney, Bargaining
- Alix James, WLC
- Judy Cutchie, Pro D
- Peter Harwood, Social
- John Mill, Disputes
- Alister Normn, Liaison
- Keith Regular, Racism
- Pat Robertson, Past President
- John Mill Adjudication
- Faye Hickerson, SOW
BILL 19 & 20
The local association will undergo many major changes during the next year to conform to the legislation of Bill 19 & 20. What follows is a step by step description in as short a form as possible:
In the meantime the 1986/87 contract has been rolled over to cover the 1987/88 school year. The only change is a 3% wage increase.
Rep Assembly BCTF
The rep assembly met August 28 to recommend changes to the special general meeting October 1. The most hotly debated issue on the floor was the recommendation on the floor that the BCTF should take on Jan 1, 1988 that recommendation was that the BCTF be a combination for certified unions and local associations. The executive members that attended that summer conference didn't support the final decision. We supported a position that pushed for all locals to be certified within two years.
SPECIAL GENERAL MEETING - BCTF
Saturday, Kate Noakes, Alix James, Cliff Paluck, John Mill and myself (Bill Fite) attended a Special General Meeting in Vancouver. We carried your wishes that the BCTF be a union of certified locals and fought all day for that point of view. The outcome was that the By-Law recommendation number 9 that stated that both associations and certified locals could be members did not pass.
Other points of interest were that Principals will be able to take out limited membership in the BCTF.
The meeting unanimously voted to become a trade union and all other by-laws were passed to carry that desire out.
Instruction-Only Campaign.
PRINCIPALS
As many of us are aware, members of our association have been transferred. They also have been legislated out of our local bargaining Unit (FDTA) but may still belong to the BCTF or any other organization they wish to.
PRESIDENT'S ANNUAL REPORT
As most of you will remember, at this time last year we were in a job action over the board's refusal to bargain or even to live up to clauses already agreed to during last years round of bargaining. We had been forced to arbitration to settle a wage increase and the AGM gave direction as to the memberships feelings. At issue were:
The arbitrated settlement was in question as to if the board would pay it in September. This issue was resolved by a court decision carried forward by the BCTF on behalf of the locals with arbitrated awards.
The honoring of clauses was solved directly by the job action taken in the fall. Due to the pressure that was applied to the board, the agreed to clauses were returned to the table and signed off.
The membership protection package was dealt with through the Joint Committee. As the arbitrated award contained the bridging clause, all that was needed was to define what the bridging clause really meant. This was done and to this point has served us well. The Bridging clause now states that the present contract continues until such time as we have a new contract. Terms and conditions of the old School Act also apply in the areas of sick leave, reports and termination, and job/union security.
BILLS 19 and 20
While we were trying to bargain a contract. The present government introduced and passed Bills 19 and 20. These two pieces of legislation have changed the educational community forever. The legislation had several goals, not all of which were achieved. One goal was to decrease the power of the BCTF and its locals. This didn't happen and, if anything, the opposite is true. Secondly, the principals were removed from the local association bargaining units. They became, as the Minister put it, real managers. While the legislation did remove these teachers from the bargaining units, the majority of administrators still work hand in hand with teachers. Another goal was to change the bargaining format under which teachers develop contracts. This was meant to put us in the "real world" so to speak. Well, if the real world is being able to finally bargain all terms and condition of employment, then thank you very much. Finally, I believe that this legislation has served another advantage that was not foreseen. It has focused public attention on education and the problems within. As professionals we are able to now address these problems at the bargaining table.
CERTIFICATION AND SIGN-UP
With bills 19 and 20 came sign-up and certification. The BCTF became the union and the FDTA became the local of that union. At present we have 99.6% of the FTE teachers in the District as members of the union. We also have 15 substitutes who have joined. The present membership of local #1 (FDTA) of the BCTF is 230 members.