Local resolutions to the 2022 Winter Representative Assembly

Winter Representative Assembly Local resolutions 1. Greater Victoria—Turcotte/Gilbert That the Federation lobby districts and the government to cease the practice of hosting competing events on the October Provincial Specialist Association Day (PSA).

Supporting statement Attending provincial professional development activities organized by specialty associations is an important and valuable time for teachers to meet and collaborate with colleagues from throughout the province. In some districts, like Greater Victoria, the employer has started to organize their own Professional Development (italics added intentionally) to the October professional development day. The employer’s contention is that many teachers do not attend the sessions offered by the PSAs, so they are stepping in to fill the void. This is a bit rich coming from an employer who is happy funding professional development in our district at the same dollar value as was set in the early 1990s! The district events are interfering with the PSA activities. If districts actually want to encourage more teachers to engage in organized professional development on these days, they should fund professional development better so that teachers can actually afford to attend workshops and conferences. In Greater Victoria, we have done what we can to push back, but our employer insists on continuing to plan these activities. We assume that other locals are in the same position and that the Federation sees the value in protecting the integrity of these PSA provincial professional development activities.

2. Greater Victoria—Turcotte/Howe That the Federation continues to fully fund and provide professional Zoom licenses for both provincial specialist associations (PSA) and locals upon request.

Supporting statement Zoom has been an extremely useful piece of software that has allowed our Federation and its locals to continue to function and complete the necessary business. Video conferencing has become an important piece of co-ordinating and completing the work of the union. To have a consistent and familiar operating platform for our organization throughout the province, it would be best for the Federation to negotiate a contract with Zoom to provide this service if requested by a local or a PSA. 3. Greater Victoria—Turcotte/Howe That the Federation investigate potential issues with teachers’ professional autonomy resulting from the implementation of the Draft Reporting Order and report back to the 2022 Spring Representative Assembly.

Supporting statement According to sources, the Draft Reporting Order is set to be passed into law this spring/summer with a tentative date of July 2022. There are many questions that need to be answered for the Federation to be able to advocate for our members if this potential shift becomes a reality. One 1

such issue will be the professional autonomy of teachers with regards to reporting. The prescriptive nature of the draft order will have significant changes in assessment practices in the higher grade levels especially. The prescriptive nature of the reporting order is a serious concern especially regarding communication with parents, is contrary to the overall trend in education and presents enough red flags about professional autonomy. The time is now to review this and to work with ministry representatives before it becomes solidified in the new reporting order.

4. Greater Victoria—Gilbert/Howe That the Federation’s position be that any training related to WorkSafeBC does not take place on professional development days.

Supporting statement The Greater Victoria School District, although particularly liberal when it comes to hiring middle managers and district principals, has decided to schedule a worksafe and health and safety training on professional development days to save money. Professional development days are few and far between throughout the year. For the employer to schedule health and safety training on these days forces teachers to put their own professional development on hold to serve as health and safety officers at our school. While we hope that this is currently just a local issue and others are not faced with the same cynical management as we are, we worry that this practice might spread further. It would be beneficial for the Federation to have a stated position against this practice that could be taken forward with the provincial parties that this practice should not be encouraged or allowed.

5. Greater Victoria—Turcotte/Gilbert That the Federation provide an opportunity for self-directed professional development for teachers who are facilitating Federation workshops on a professional development day.

Supporting statement Facilitating a Federation workshop during a professional development day can be very rewarding but is not actually professional development. For most facilitators, they are sacrificing their own professional development to be of service to the greater membership. As a Federation we should be acknowledging this sacrifice by making it possible for teachers to be able to be released to pursue a self-directed professional development opportunity of their own after facilitating a Federation workshop on a professional development day.

6. Greater Victoria—Gilbert/Turcotte That the Federation publicly campaign for paid sick leave for all workers, including teachers teaching on call.

Supporting statement The pandemic has really put this issue into focus. For the good of all our institutions and our society in general, workers should have the security of not having to work when sick. Employers rail against this idea because they are suspicious of workers and worried about abuse of the days.

This is not a good justification for not having a program that significantly reduces the spread of communicable diseases simply by allowing people who are contagious to stay away from the workplace. In future it would be interesting to sponsor a study of the long-term financial benefits 2

of such a program, but to start with it would be good for the Federation to take a public stance on this issue either through press release, targeted advertisement, and/or work with other labour affiliates to build momentum toward having this practice adopted into the provincial labour code.

7. Greater Victoria—Howe/Turcotte That the last week of September be designated as Truth and Reconciliation Week.

Supporting statement With September 30 being declared a day when students and staff are away from school, it would be a good idea and a small step toward reconciliation to make the last week of September a focused week for schools to focus on this specifically. Similarly, to Remembrance Day where the School Act says that schools must hold an assembly on the last school day before November 11, it would be good to create the expectation from the union and hopefully the employer that schools are actively engaged in conversations about reconciliation throughout the days leading up to September 30. Ideally, if the 30th is a Friday, Saturday, or a Sunday, this will provide a full week of school days leading up to the 30th. If the 30th lands on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday, then the five school days before the 30th would be used for activities. This year there was a lot of discussion about what was being done elsewhere and what should be done in schools. Declaring the week prior to be a week to focus on Truth and Reconciliation will help our members plan for the day in the future. It should be added, however, that acknowledging and working toward reconciliation is not an event for one singular day or one singular week but should be an everyday occurrence. This motion passed unanimously at the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Associations’ Annual General Meeting, November 16, 2021.

8. Greater Victoria—Howe/Gilbert That the Federation form a Climate Action Advisory Committee to advise the BCTF Executive Committee on climate issues, to work to encourage teachers to take action on the climate crisis, and to implement climate related motions from the BCTF Executive Committee, Representative Assembly, and Annual General Meeting.

Supporting statement The intense heat dome, flooding, and wildfires we are experiencing with growing frequency in British Columbia demonstrate clearly that we are in a climate emergency. In response, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Representative Assembly (RA) have passed motions calling on the BCTF to take action to address the climate emergency, including four motions from last year’s 2020 AGM (158–161), as well as Recommendation 44 from the 2019 AGM. Yet the BCTF does not currently have the infrastructure to adequately implement these motions, and to seek advice from teachers about what next steps the BCTF should take. Currently, the only provincial action and advisory group focused specifically on this issue is the Environmental Justice Action Group of the Committee for Action on Social Justice (CASJ). However, during the three annual meetings, this group of four teachers appointed by the Executive Committeemust also address all other environmental issues, as well as participate actively in the combined group work of CASJ. This is necessary work, with an intersectional focus, that should not disappear. However, the remaining time, typically one day three-times per year, is simply insufficient for the magnitude of the climate emergency. Moreover, we need a larger group of teachers to work on this issue who represent a broader diversity of experiences. We should 3

include teachers from resource-based communities, who are potentially directly impacted by a transition to renewables, as well as Indigenous teachers who understand so well the intersection between Indigenous rights and climate action. It is increasingly clear that a sustainable, habitable climate is a health and safety as well as working condition for teachers. When the heat dome came, schools had no adequate cooling systems and no systems were in place for addressing the twin crises of COVID-19 along with extreme heat. A similar phenomenon took place during the smoky periods created during the frequently recurring out of control wildfire seasons. Most recently, the extreme flooding brought on by the atmospheric river caused school closures, accessibility issues, and flooded and destroyed homes for some of our members. The increasing severity and frequency of climate catastrophes will not reverse until the world, including us and our communities, reaches net zero emissions. Scientists indicate reductions must begin occurring immediately to prevent exceeding 1.5℃ increase, a planetary boundary, beyond which we will see irreversible change. We need to increase our capacity to advocate on this issue. We should be active participants in the growing decarbonization movements. We should be loud and vocal on the need for a just transition. We have adopted the principles of a just recovery, but we are currently doing little to mobilize with others in the labour movement and our communities to make it a reality. We do not comment publicly on woefully inadequate government climate plans, such as Clean BC and the new BC adaptation plan. We do not lobby our MLAs and MPs on climate legislation. In short, our current response is far too little relative to the size and urgency of the climate emergency. As a start, we should create a committee, composed of teacher representatives from around the province, to focus specifically on this work. This committee could both implement decisions of the AGM and RA on specific climate emergency actions, as well as provide advice on what additional steps we can take.

9. Greater Victoria—Howe/Gilbert That the Federation advise our pension board members to promote immediate divestment from all fossil fuel company holdings in our pension.

Supporting statement 2021 has demonstrated that the climate crisis is here, and increasingly having a direct impact on our members. After the June heat dome destroyed the town of Lytton and killed hundreds of people, we saw relentless fires across the province, for yet another summer of smoke. This was followed by devastating floods in November, which took lives, livestock, and impacted thousands. Schools were closed, and teachers were impacted through flooding of their homes, being trapped in their communities, or worse even, being told to evacuate, as the residents of Merritt experienced. Every ton of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions will worsen our plight. The drastic failure of international leaders at the UN COP26 conference showed, yet again, that we cannot simply rely on governments to “do the right thing.” Scientists tell us the world is on track to warm by 3℃ by 2100, yet also that anything more than 1.5℃ will be deadly and catastrophic.

As climate scientist Johann Rockström told The Guardian newspaper: “A rise of 1.5℃ is not an arbitrary number, it is not a political number. It is a planetary boundary.” This means that going beyond this limit poses a serious risk of irreversible change. Despite work to improve the ethical investing profile of our pension funds, in 2018 the Corporate Mapping Project in its analysis of our pension’s holdings in fossil fuels, showed how incompatible our pension investments are with a 1.5℃ world. The project is a joint initiative of the University of Victoria, the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, and the Parkland Institute. They analyzed the fossil fuel 4

investments of BCI, the investment arm of the BC public pension system, and the fourth largest pension fund in Canada. Their findings indicate that “As of 2016, BCI had over $3 billion invested in the top 200 publicly traded fossil fuel reserve holders—it is invested in 74% of the oil and gas companies with the largest fossil fuel reserves and 30% of the biggest reserve-holding coal producers. Instead of curbing these investments to align itself with the Paris Agreement, BCI has been increasing its oil and gas investments. Since BCI’s duty is to act in the best financial interests of plan members, its carbon-heavy holdings mean it may be breaching its statutory duty of prudence.” (www.policyalternatives.ca/fossil-fuelled-pensions) We cannot solve this crisis by investing in more fossil fuel production. We should be doing whatever we can to urge our pension trustees to immediately divest from all fossil fuels, to save our communities, planet, and pension for the future well-being of our members. As this past year has shown, there is no more time for delay. The time to act is now.

10. Chilliwack—Joe/Marcakis That the Federation Bargaining Conference be changed to the Provincial Bargaining Assembly for the next round of bargaining.

Supporting statement Change the name to better reflect the work that members are doing at this event. A conference has workshops and keynote speakers, an assembly deals with motions and resolutions like our Representative Assembly.

11. Comox—Moore/Holland That the BCTF negotiate an extension to the March 4 local bargaining deadline.

Supporting statement Due to additional measures related to COVID-19, we foresee the possibility that we may not be able to finish our local bargaining by the March 4 deadline. We hope that slight extension can be negotiated to accommodate that if it is needed.

12. West Vancouver—Price/Standfield That the Federation investigate and bring recommendations back to the Spring Representative Assembly regarding the opportunities, options, and costs of a provincially supported opt-in data system that locals could use to: a. manage digital communications and contact information for local members. b. keep digital records regarding advice to and advocacy on behalf of local members. c. manage communication and campaigns to the broader constituency of the local (parents, Trustees, community groups, etc.). d. assist in project and task management. e. keep records of contract language interpretations and other agreements with their district.

Supporting statement With the evolution of software tools such as NationBuilder and SalesForce that enable organizations to provide more effective community engagement, communication, advocacy, and information management, there are opportunities for the BCTF to improve its ability to support 5

locals in modernizing their practices. That said, not all locals may want to adopt such tools.

These recommendations would explore the potential of these tools for our unique context, look at costs and assume an opt-in approach analogous to how political parties work with their riding associations to ensure the autonomy of locals while leveraging the capacity of the collective Federation.

13. West Vancouver—Price/Standfield That the Federation restructure the Political Action/Public Relations Grant and Political Action Campaign Grant into a single unified grant that takes into consideration past Representative Assembly motions about release time for political action contacts.

Furthermore, that this restructured grant be ready for the 2022–23 school year and part of the upcoming budget-setting process.

Supporting statement The structure of political action grants assumes the work will happen on two dimensions: 1. action within the local to build capacity to advocate 2. public-facing advocacy campaigns.

One of the challenges faced in doing this work is releasing teachers on an adhoc basis to undertake such projects and sustaining momentum across the arc of the school year. This change would allow a local to design a program around both grants that achieved the aim of each grant while using the allowable portion of the two grants to partly fund the release of a member to do this work on a regular basis. This would help build capacity for advocacy work among mid-sized locals where local fees are insufficient to support a designated released position beyond the president and vice-president.

14. Kootenay Columbia—Fleming/Read That the 2022 BCTF Annual General Meeting be held in a virtual format.

Supporting statement Due to the COVID-19 pandemic uncertainty and, to ensure delegate safety, the 2022 BCTF Annual General Meeting should be held in a virtual format.

15. Kootenay Columbia—Fleming/Read That all costing information with respect to the provincial bargaining proposals recommended to be tabled by the Provincial Bargaining Team be shared, in-committee, at the 2022 BCTF Annual General Meeting.

Supporting statement All costing information with respect to the provincial bargaining proposals recommended to be tabled by the Provincial Bargaining Team should be shared, in-committee, at the 2022 BCTF Annual General Meeting to ensure transparency and to avoid the internal issues generated in our last round of bargaining.

16. Surrey—Ohana/Cabral That the Federation demand the BC provincial government match COVID-19 health and safety standards provided by other provincial health ministries to education workers.

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Supporting statement Education workers in other provinces have far superior safety measures in their workplaces including CO2 monitors, HEPA filters, and N95 masks. They also have prioritization for booster shots and access to polymerase chain reaction testing.

17. Surrey—Rickett-Lindsay/Ohana That the Federation request the Ministry direct school districts to provide clear guidelines for mask-wearing exemptions so that medically vulnerable students and staff in classrooms are protected when other students have mask-wearing exemptions.

Supporting statement The Provincial Health Officer’s Face Covering Order requires “all K–12 staff, students, and visitors to wear face coverings (masks) in schools and on buses.” While there are exemptions and documented strategies that teachers can potentially use to reinforce, enhance, and encourage adherence to the order, the mandate does not go far enough to address exemptions. The health and safety, as well as the emotional and social well-being of all students and staff need to be considered and this includes students and staff with pre-existing health conditions who are at a very high risk of being hospitalized due to exposure to Omicron. We know that Omicron is airborne and highly contagious, and being in the same room for five to six hours with individuals who are unmasked, not only creates significant risk for this vulnerable population but also raises anxiety levels for these students. We understand that some students have medical exemptions for wearing masks due to pre-existing psychological, behavioural, and health conditions, as well as previously diagnosed physical, cognitive, or mental impairment, but we are also noticing that mask exemptions are given to students whose parents have claimed that they have a health condition that has developed since the face covering order was mandated by the Ministry of Health. We would like the BCTF to advocate on students and staff behalf to seek transparent and consistent guidelines to ensure that the risk of exposure to the virus in schools due to exemptions are for legitimate reasons and not for political and other beliefs that are not based on science.

18. Vancouver Elementary—Brack/McKnight That the Federation address the matter of union leave limits through a time limited midcontract modification process prior to bargaining.

Supporting statement Being able to engage our membership through union activism and opportunities is one of the foundational elements of our organization. We are an organization that supports member engagement at both the local and provincial levels. While locals all have union leave language that allows for members to access union leave to participate in these structures, many that were negotiated locally, we are not able to seek improvements or address this issue at the local table.

In Vancouver, we have had a long-standing practice being able to exceed our 20-day limit in our collective agreement provision with no issues or concerns from the employer. We have come to rely on and depend on that practice. With the employer now asserting and limiting that access it has had a significant impact on our ability to represent our membership. Members are now faced with having to choose and limit their union activism and engagement to a single role. This is putting a strain on our membership and is impacting how we can conduct union business. This 7

resolution is asking for the BCTF to address this timely issue by negotiating a mid-contract modification prior to bargaining. We need this issue addressed as expeditiously as possible so that all locals can access union leave when needed. We have elected our representatives who are now not able to fulfill their duties. A mid-contract modification would allow us to continue with our local practices while still allowing the Provincial Bargaining Team to address this matter through provincial bargaining.

19. Vancouver Elementary—Lefebvre/McKnight That no BCTF grant be used for purposes contrary to intent and spirit of Section 7 and 8 of BC Human Rights Code and/or Section 76 of the School Act. For clarity, this applies to any usage of a BCTF grant, including release time, honorarium, or speakers’ fees.

Supporting statement The BCTF is responsible to ensure that all grants provided to locals support and align with the spirit of Section 7 and 8 of the BC Human Rights Code. Locals access a variety of grants for a variety of purposes to support members. In doing so, we need to be assured that the funds used are to support all members identified by and in the BC Human Rights Code. As a social justice union, we support locals in social justice training and engagement opportunities. Members need to feel and see themselves reflected in the activities we engage in. Representation is one aspect of this inclusivity. This resolution is to ensure that the BCTF and locals plan union activities and events that are inclusive and reflective of the membership.

20. Vancouver Elementary—Ng/Lefebvre That the Federation call on the Government of Canada to take the following steps: 1. cease all military and diplomatic co-operation with the Sudanese military, including the Rapid Support Forces, until the Sudanese state is fully sovereign and free to make economic, political, and security decisions without military influence 2. end arms sales to the Sudanese coup leaders’ regional backers (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Israel) 3. support the right of workers to form trade unions and engage in strike action, as fundamental to all free societies 4. oppose any Western military intervention and instead call on the International Monetary Fund, national governments, and commercial banks to cancel Sudan’s national debts which are contributing to the economic crisis.

Supporting statement I am bringing this motion forward with the support of the social justice and solidarity co-chairs.

1. on October 25, 2021, the military under General Abdel Fattah Burhan dissolved Sudan’s transitional government, arrested prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, and declared martial law 2. violence and mass arrests have been used to quell the resistance to military rule 3. the regime has singled out the Sudanese Teachers’ Union for its leadership role in resisting military rule and, since November 7, 2021, has arrested over 100 teachers. The Vancouver and District Labour Council has passed a similar motion.

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21. Vancouver Elementary—Ng/Lefebvre That the Federation publicly condemn the coup in Sudan and the actions of the Sudanese military (which includes the arrest of teachers) while also supporting strike action by Sudanese workers resisting the coup.

Supporting statement I am bringing this motion forward with the support of the social justice and solidarity co-chairs.

1. on October 25, 2021, the military under General Abdel Fattah Burhan dissolved Sudan’s transitional government, arrested prime minister Abdalla Hamdok, and declared martial law 2. violence and mass arrests have been used to quell the resistance to military rule 3. the regime has singled out the Sudanese Teachers’ Union for its leadership role in resisting military rule and, since November 7, 2021, has arrested over 100 teachers. The Vancouver and District Labour Council has passed a similar motion.

22. Chilliwack—Joe/Hailstone That the Federation support and amplify the time-limited House of Commons e-petition e-3672 which calls on the federal government to commit to ongoing meaningful support for ground penetrating radar, and not limited to the following components: 1. solidarity statement to share across press releases, locals, and social media 2. information to Teacher magazine and public BCTF website 3. share out to BC Federation of Labour and Canadian Teachers’ Federation to promote signing the petition 4. host a timed item at the 2022 BCTF Annual General Meeting to honour the 7,000+ children and the communities involved and include an honour song, moment of silence, and sharing the link for members to sign electronically.

Supporting statement Whereas BCTF is to prioritize and “continue to address barriers in our structures through decolonization and antiracism work” (2021–22) and the ongoing engagement in focused, issuedbased campaigns in response to the Tk'emlúps Te Secwépemc press release of May 27, 2021. vt:tfeu

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