LRB Ruling on Extra Curriculars

Teachers win significant legal victory on extra-curricular activities

The Labour Relations Board today has affirmed that BC teachers do indeed have the right to withdraw their participation in voluntary extra-curricular activities.

In a ruling issued today, LRB Vice-Chair Ritu Mahil found that “the Union has not declared or authorized an unlawful strike by directing its members to refrain from participating in activities which occur outside of class time/instructional hours and are truly voluntary and extra-curricular.”

BCTF President Susan Lambert welcomed the decision saying: “This is a significant legal victory for teachers because it clarifies the distinction between voluntary and non-voluntary work, and it reaffirms that the countless hours that teachers devote to extra-curricular activities with students truly are voluntary. We’ve always known that, but it’s excellent to have it confirmed by the Labour Relations Board.”

Lambert added, however, that the decision will offer cold comfort to teachers, who feel disrespected by the needlessly provocative actions of the BC Public School Employers’ Association.

“Public education in BC has become over-reliant on the goodwill of teachers and, despite a decade of underfunding and attacks on our rights, we have kept on digging deeper and giving more in order to hold the system together,” Lambert said. “Now the employer has taken us to the LRB in an attempt to compel goodwill and force volunteerism. It’s as if they are intentionally trying to shred the relationship.”

Instead of engaging in such damaging legal battles, Lambert called on the BCPSEA and government to work with the BCTF to reach a fair compromise and resolve the outstanding issues in the labour dispute.

Mahil also found that the BC Teachers’ Federation has not engaged in an unlawful strike by directing its members to minimally participate in meetings with school administrators. However, she did find that the BCTF must direct members to participate in meetings and activities which are part of their work duties even though they occur outside of instructional hours. The BCTF will promptly inform its members of the ruling.

For the full text of the LRB decision, go to: http://bctf.ca/uploadedFiles/Public/BargainingContracts/LRB/LRB63467-12.pdf

Death of generosity

Death of generosity Vancouver Province - Letter to the Editor Ernie Gorrie May 23, 2012 In arguments at the B.C. Labour Relations Board, B.C. Public School Employers Association lawyer Delayne Sartison claimed that if a teacher agreed to a volunteer position after hours "it's part of their work." Employers may regret it if the LRB upholds that claim. Telethons, fundraising runs and other events generate goodwill for sponsoring businesses who rely on their employees volunteering. Imagine if employees believed that such volunteering would constitute "work," which they could not subsequently decline. The well of volunteers could quickly dry up. Read more: http://www.theprovince.com/business/Death+generosity/6664401/story.html#ixzz1viK3NKak

And so it continues.... Voluntary vs Mandatory

It seems BCPSEA (employer) feels teacher's withdrawing their voluntary activities is illegal. They have filed their conplaint with the LRB who will likely rule Friday.

I don't understand how teacher's volunteer choices outside of school hours can be viewed as "illegal" but I am interested to see how this plays out.

I have a lot of opinions on extra-curricular and this whole situation, but first, let me share with you the information in the media:


Teacher withdrawal from after-hours work is illegal, employers say

A protest that has resulted in teachers withdrawing from all after-hours activities in B.C. public schools amounts to an illegal strike, the B.C. Public School Employers’ Association (BCPSEA) alleges.

On Wednesday, it filed an application to the B.C. Labour Relations Board (LRB) seeking an order that would end the B.C. Teachers’ Federation (BCTF) protest and require teachers to resume all such activities.

The crux of the issue appears to be the definition of extracurricular. The BCPSEA says it is not trying to force individual teachers to coach sports teams, for example, but does not accept the union’s broad definition of what constitutes voluntary activities.

“The BCTF has directed its members to withdraw a very broad range of duties that teachers typically perform as part of their teaching job, based upon the fact that those duties are typically performed either before or after the school bell rings,” the association says in a statement. Those activities include parent-teacher interviews, student tutorials, writing reports and talking to principals.

“The BCTF’s call for service withdrawal captures both duties that are clearly and expressly required of all teachers and duties that are performed by some teachers at those teachers’ option.

“In our view, the BCTF’s direction to its members to engage in a concerted refusal to perform these duties constitutes an illegal strike in violation of the Labour Relations Code and the Act,” the association states.

Read More

My fear is that voluntary activities become mandatory. Thus, forcing teacher's to take on some form of the 'obligated' volunteer time. This seems to defeat the purpose of any volunteer activities. Teacher's often take on areas they are passionate about, be it sports, drama, clubs, or other events. If there is a need in the school, teacher's interested or connected to that area may volunteer, but by making voluntary activities "part of the work day" it takes away the passion and the point... "I am doing this extra because it is important to my students, important to me, important to our school community"

The Globe & Mail writes:

The British Columbia Teachers’ Federation maintains teachers are withdrawing from what they consider voluntary activities – such as coaching sports teams – and that the withdrawal was the only tactic teachers had left to protest against what the union characterizes as punitive legislation.

This is the only action teacher's can legally take to voice their concern with the current government's attack on public education! It is to raise awareness and take action against the threats being imposed against public education!

The activities are extra's and voluntary. This is not stopping MATH class or skipping lessons - this is stopping out of school hour activities, such as overnight camping!
Since when did teacher's taking students camping become the norm? When I was in school, my teacher's didn't give up their evenings to take me camping - that is what Girl Guides or my parents were for!

Our "wrap-up" activities were within the school day, a school picnic in the park, a field trip to the waterslides, and so on.

When did the expectation change? Why now do we expect so much more from our teacher's spare time? I would encourage anyone to come into a classroom for a day, observe, or help run the class for the day and then after school there is the marking, preparation for the next day, photocopying, and possibly some coaching or meetings afterschool. Planning and taking a class camping seems like a far stretch from the "regular teacher duties"

I have heard of some schools where teacher's who run lunch time intramurals get a different block for their lunch (which they still often spend planning or marking). I have seen schools where teacher's who plan Sports Day or awards ceremonies and assemblies are given additional preperation time to do so, instead of using their own time at home to plan. PACs stepping in to plan activities with teachers is another strategy I have seen to ensure programs still run at schools, despite teacher's decision to stop voluntary activities.

It can be done! It is not the end of these extra's, it is a shift in how they are approached!

I don't disagree with teacher's doing extra-curriculars, I am a teacher who enjoys doing extra's with my students and like most teacher's who do extra curriculars, we don't want to stop forever, but right now, given the threats from this government and the corner we have been backed into, this is the only thing we have control over - our own voluntary time! And if this is the only way to deliver the message - it is what we must do.