Monday, February 24, 2014

Strike Vote Dates and Times

The following was sent to all TTOCs on the email list, and to all staff reps for posting and distribution at schools.  Please be sure to exercise your democratic rights by voting on this very important issue:



Re:         Strike Vote – By Secret Ballot
                Special General Meeting – March 5, 2014
  
The BCTF Strike Vote will be conducted as follows:

Advance Poll:   March 4, 2014
                             8:30 am – 5:00 pm
                             CVTA office - 1001 Railway Blvd

Regular Poll:    March 5, 2014 at Special General Meeting
                             3:30 pm – 5:30 pm
                             Erickson Room – Creston Recreation Centre

Regular Poll:    March 6, 2014
                             8:30 am – 5:00 pm
                             CVTA office - 1001 Railway Blvd

The wording of the ballot:
                             Are you in favour of a strike?
                             YES                                         NO

Friday, February 7, 2014

InnoviCares Information

We have received information regarding cards which will help a small number of members pay the difference between the cost of generic Drugs and the cost of a brand name drug.

While innoviCares offers a drug card that covers almost 100 brands, and is constantly expanding its list, there is also help for a small number of members whose particular brand name medication may not be covered by the innoviCares card. One good source is RxHelp at https://rxhelp.ca/en/default.aspx, which offers “patient assistance” cards for some medications and some companies that innoviCares does not yet represent. As well, if members can’t find their medication at innoviCares or RxHelp, they can Google the manufacturer of their brand name drug and may be able to find a manufacturer’s drug card that will work for them.

In all cases these drug cards are free and generally pay the difference between the cost of the generic drug and the cost of the brand name drug. The drug cards are accepted at pharmacies province-wide, and can be used with your PBC pay direct drug card at time of purchase.

For further information or advice visit the innoviCares website at www.innovicares.ca/bctf.

Court Ruling

We last spoke the day after Justice Griffin"s ruling - there was happiness and joy throughout the province.  Since then, the government has begun the appeal process and there has been media and conversations daily.  We are providing links here to information for members to peruse about the ruling specifically, and hope to post soon our newly restored language.  Stay tuned, meanwhile for your enjoyment and better understanding:

Links

Monday, February 3, 2014

Ratification Vote

We are very happy to report that the ratification vote for the new local language was successful.  This means that any new Articles agreed to by the employer and the union are now in effect.  We outlined the language for you at the General Meetings.

Primarily, the largest changes the members should ensure occurs are the time frame negotiated regarding the length of staff meetings and the right to the representation for members in meetings with the employer.

Staff meetings should not last more than 90 minutes following the dismissal of students at the school where members work.  Staff reps should discuss this with the principals to ensure we are compliant with the language.  Our bargaining contemplated the fact that this should not result in more frequent staff meetings - agendas are to be posted one week in advance, which should allow time for organization of topics.

Members should also note the new language around representation - we have negotiated language which entitles them to request union representation at any meeting with the employer.  Principals need to be given notice if you have asked a union representative to accompany you to a meeting.

The union is making a presentation to the employer on establishing an LBGTQ policy on Tuesday, February 4th - Karin Hawkins and myself will be endeavoring to finally see the policy in place.  We had negotiated language agreeing to meet to develop this policy.

We will try to blog about other language in the next few weeks, and ask that the language is drafted into the resource section of our webpage - please call the office if you have any questions.

Monday, January 27, 2014

Benefit Information

If members are seeking information regarding Benefits, the websites where they can possibly find what they are seeking are outlined below:

If members are looking for information about the standardized provincial Extended Health Benefits Plan, the best source of information is still the website that Pacific Blue Cross created for teachers at www.pac.bluecross.ca/teachers/.

On the website, members will find an overview of the plan, an FAQ page, and a page of useful links, as well as a compact one-page summary of the plan benefits.



If members would like more details, they can sign in to CARESnet at https://caresnet.pac.bluecross.ca/CARESnet/, where they will be able to view their claims history and, under “Plan Information,” will be able to view and print the full details of the plan.

We have been informed by the employer that the contact for Benefits in the SD 8 address is now Rita Robertson.  Her email address is rrobertson@sd8.bc.ca and her phone number is 1-250-354-505-7048 (local 7048)

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Madness

 It is that time of year again – no, not New Year or end of semester.  It is FSA madness time again.  Teachers know the tests are a waste of classroom time, often invalid, and frequently stressful for students. 

We have been frustrated by this district’s insistence on having all students write and their apparent disregard for parent’s request that their child be withdrawn from the FSAs.   It would be easy for us to decide to let the issue be resolved at the provincial level, and during the last election, that seemed it might be possible. However, no agreement has been reached to assess students provincially in a random manner – a method to ensure the Ministry get the information it needs regarding students/curriculum.  Many districts respect parent requests – Vancouver students do not have to write the FSAs, for example.  Their Board has realized that the FSA test does little more than indicate social status, and has very little to do with the individual student’s abilities or needs.


We have been told that tests will happen at schools in this District from Jan 13 to Feb 21.  The BCTF has asked us once again to take a stand on the FSA testing madness.  We will be placing an ad in the paper advising parents to withdraw their child from the test.  We will be providing each grade 4 and grade 7 teacher with an envelope containing the same advice.  Teachers can choose to send the envelope home or not.  We will also advise teachers that should a parent want to withdraw their child and the parent lets the teacher know the principal is not allowing the withdrawal, the parent’s concern should go to the District Parent Advisory Committee.  (This committee often provides assistance when parents have concerns or conflicts at school.)


Monday, December 9, 2013

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.