Forty-one professional staffers of the British Columbia Teachers Federation
went on strike yesterday, accusing their employers of "contract stripping" and concession demands. BCTF staffers are members of Local 464 of the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union.
The teachers' union support staff is not on strike, but is honoring the picket line, prompting BCTF managers to close the union's offices in Vancouver. Even the
BCTF web site is down.
For its part, the teachers' union claims its staff is already well taken care of.
"Our CEP professional staff does an excellent job and the compensation and benefits they receive from our members' dues are excellent also,"
said BCTF President Jinny Sims. "But BCTF members do not believe that professionals who would receive an average wage of $100,000 by the end of this proposed contract are hard done by and need to strike to get even more."
Sims also noted that the staff "receive benefits no BCTF member has, such as a gratuity of 50% of one year's salary upon retirement after only 10 years service," and that the "wage gap between CEP professional staff and teachers has grown too large." Teachers in British Columbia average about $63,000.
BCTF has asked CEP Local 464 members to give up compensatory time for occasional work done in the evening. "Professionals in all lines of work who make significant salaries are occasionally required to conduct evening work and we are asking the CEP professional staff to do the same," Sims said.
The staff union plans to picket the union's annual convention, scheduled for May 4 after being postponed under previous threat of picketing.
"Our members are coming to Vancouver from across the province to exercise their rights in a democratic union," Sims said. "The membership's business is important and we strongly believe the staff should not be attempting to pressure the members through an unwarranted expansion of their strike."
