Things to Check

As the year comes to an end, it might be a good idea to check a few things and to get organized for the new year.

Have you checked your pay slip recently?  We helped to organize and attended a New Teacher Orientation recently, and the new teachers were particularly interested in a section called Payslip 101.  We were impressed with their focus, and it reminded us that all members should be paying attention to their own payslips as intently.  Many of you will notice a slight decrease in your take home pay in January, and each year we get questions regarding this pattern.  Your payslip will show an increase in any area which maxes out during the year - EI, for example.

We always advise members to keep a copy of their September payslip, and to record their absences throughout the year.  The employer system which tracks your absences actually lags a wee bit behind because pay is processed a few days before the end of the month.  Therefore, if you are absent in the last few days of the month, your sick leave entitlement may show as more than what you actually have left to use.  If you want an accurate record of your sick days, keep your own record based on the September amount minus the days you know you have used.

And this is a good time to remind you that if you going to run out of sick leave - if you have fewer than 10 days left in your sick leave, you should apply for SIP (Salary Indemnity Plan), which is a BCTF insurance plan you see noted on the pay slip as a deduction from your pay.  SIP ensures you receive money even when you have no sick leave days left.  Call the office for help with this if you need it.

The amount you receive for pay is based on your qualifications and your years of experience - check page 106 in the contract which shows the amount of your yearly salary - divide the number by 10 for your monthly pay.  You might also note we have had no raise since 2010.

Members at the orientation had so many questions, and there are many more things even experienced teachers need to know about their pay.  If you have any questions, call the office and we will try to help you.
We will try to find some time to post more regarding this topic - meanwhile, a quick tip for organizing for the new year.  Prepare a folder in which to keep any letters from the District - this really helps you when you are wondering about any employment history like, "How much of a leave did I take in 2005?"  Or, "When did I take a leave?"  In the same folder keep a copy of the pay slip for September and June of every school year...

A final piece of "organizing for the New Year" - - please follow the BCTF updates on Provincial Bargaining - you will need to access the information through the membership portal.  It is really important that you follow this carefully.

Here We Are Again

So where to start...it has been awhile since we last posted ---local bargaining, provincial elections, and provincial bargaining filled the spring and through to the end of the year.  Just a few things on our plates.

And then we had a summer break.  Here we are back in the classrooms - can you even remember what a glorious summer it was?

Classrooms may have changed for you, or they may be the same.  Bargaining is still happening - at least at the provincial level. The government has announced a plan to change the face of bargaining, and threats of an imposed 10 year contract have been in the news.  We were prepared early in the school year to support our CUPE brothers and sisters, and know that the provincial CUPE bargaining has an offer on the table, but also know that locally CUPE is still struggling with attempts by the employer to strip their contract.  The BCTF has returned to court to seek resolution regarding our own stripped contract language - something we all believed had already been dealt with in a previous court case.

All of these issues aside, we know you are back working with students and doing your best to ensure that this year will be a positive experience for all. During school visits we have seen that you are positive and that you know the job we do makes a difference.

We are looking forward to Jim Iker, president of the BCTF, attending our first General Meeting on Tuesday, October 8th at the Creston Hotel.  We will see you there

Lunch Time Meetings

We usually get questions when a member believes there may be some language in the contract which will clarify a position - and the fact is that many questions are not answered easily by the contract. One which was easily answered recently was regarding our duties and responsibilities at lunch time.  The answer is found in Article D.22 which was fought for and achieved in previous negotiations.  We went on strike to get that language.  When I started teaching many years ago,  teachers were assigned duty at lunch and principals often called meetings at lunch time.  Not all locals were successful in their attempt to ensure teachers had a lunch free of school responsibility, but this contact was.  We inform members that they do not have to attend meetings or duty at lunch times, unless it is an emergency. 
Seems simple - but what if the member informs the union that members at the school agreed to come to the meetings?  The contract speaks clearly again, members cannot break the contract.  It is an agreement we have signed, and just as we do not want the employer to break the contract, we do not want members to break any conditions in the contract. 
Does that mean teachers cannot meet with each other and discuss professional issues?  No, we do that all the time.  What we cannot do is decide as a group to ignore the language - it makes it very easy for the employer to argue we do not need that language.  Would any of us like to have the employer argue we need noon hour meetings, and since teachers agree to meet at lunch time anyways, we can just eliminate the language?  We need to be very clear that we will not agree to organize or participate at lunch time meetings with the employer which deal with student or classroom issues -we risk losing the right to a duty free lunch if we do.    If you believe we should negotiate the removal of this clause, and want to have lunch hour time as part of your duties, please bring that suggestion to the Special General Meeting on Feb 21, 2013.  Something tells me it will be a lively conversation.

New Year - Same Old Standardized Testing Issue

Somehow time is able to fly even faster - the school year is already nearing the halfway mark.  Thank you to the members who attended the General Meeting on Jan.15th, it is great to get some time together to discuss our issues.  Your advice regarding the FSA is heartening - your concerns about students being told to stay home on days the FSAs are written were particularly commendable.  Students have the right to a public education, and parents should have the right to withdraw them from activities which do not match the family's values.  We often see students given the opportunity to work on alternative curriculum - why are the parents being told not to send their children to school when FSAs are being administered?  We repeatedly say the tests do not match our curriculum - and indeed, one would wonder what alternative curricular materials could be provided to ensure the outcomes are reached if the student does not write the FSA.  Perhaps they could graph socioeconomic status of the school they are attending - after all, that is what the results of the test seem to be best at indicating.  Perhaps they could count the number of "missing" specialist teachers - or write an illustrated story entitled, "The Day the School Librarian Went Missing".  There is clear agreement by all parties involved - except the Fraser Institute - that the FSAs need to be eliminated.  A more valid form of testing needs to be used.  The CVTA will be providing information to parents regarding the concerns we have about the misuse of the results of these tests, our concerns regarding the costs and the instructional time lost, as well as our concerns regarding the fact that their student should not have to stay away from school when FSAs are administered.