Teachers appeal for help, cite unsafe conditions
B.C. teachers are appealing to the Labour Relations Board to help them address unsafe working conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The B.C. Teachers' Federation, the union representing the province's teachers, filed the application with the LRB Thursday under section 88 of the labour code.
“Our concerns are not being taken seriously by the government,” BCTF president Teri Mooring said at an online news conference Friday.
Mooring would not say whether teachers are prepared to go on strike, but said they are trying to prevent labour unrest by going to the LRB.
The BCTF argues there are insufficient remote learning opportunities, insufficient resources for preventive measures, and that the B.C. government has failed to reduce student class sizes.
She noted British Columbians are being asked to keep their pandemic “bubbles” to six people, but there is no way families with school-aged children can do this when their kids are in school groups of 60 or 120 students.
The government calls this a controlled setting, however Mooring argues it is only controlled for contact tracing, not to prevent transmission.
Further, the safety precautions for students and teachers that the government promised this summer are vastly different than what teachers are witnessing, said Mooring.
For instance, she said there are reports that some schools are rationing masks while others are not enforcing wearing masks, even in high-traffic areas.
Section 88 of the labour code is a rarely used provision that allows the board to take action to settle differences between employers and employees during the term of a collective agreement. In the application, the BCTF seeks the assistance of the board in addressing “the serious and growing concerns that teachers have about the working and learning conditions in the public education system” during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The BCTF says it has heard from many members who have significant concerns about the “inconsistent and inadequate implementation” of government-mandated health and safety measures which “do not meet the protections promised in the spring and summer.”
The letter states that “there is an extremely high level of confusion” among the school districts about basic safety measures that should have already been put in place.
Standards differ between the districts and sometimes conflict with advice previously given or from other agencies, the BCTF contends.
“Teachers report that they are feeling pressured to work in unsafe conditions and are demanding significant changes to ensure they and their students are protected,” the letter states.
The union is demanding the government direct all school districts to provide every BCTF member a face shield, direct all school districts to offer a remote learning option that is available to all students, and direct all school districts to provide dedicated staffing for remote option learning programs, rather than adding this work to the existing workload of classroom teachers.