February 29, 2024
To PSAC/ BCTF Executive Committee/ BCTF Bargaining Committee
As we enter into preparation for the next round of provincial bargaining the British Columbia Technology Education Association (BCTEA) appreciate the planning required to advocate for the needs of all BCTF members. Our PSA of shop teachers is likely interested in the same contract improvements as all teachers, however, as I am sure you can imagine we also experience pressures that affect our work in very unique ways. The BCTEA executive surveyed our members and heard back with a fairly clear consensus as to what they would like to see as bargaining priorities. Tech Ed. teachers would ask the bargaining committee to consider the following when setting priorities:
1. increased pay across the scale.
2. smaller class sizes.
3. improvements to capital assets funding.
Our members (overall) voiced their number one priority was increases in pay. Members are concerned about wages at the low end of the scale, that it is very hard to make ends meet, and difficult to encourage someone in a trade to take such a drastic pay cut to become a teacher. Members at the top end of the scale are often just as concerned as costs of living, particularly in urban areas are unmanageable. We ask the bargaining committee to advocate for increased wages, not tied to other union deals, across the scale.
Tech Ed. teachers continue to have concern around class sizes and as a group we are particularly concerned for members in districts who have no local language around this issue. The class sizes of shop classes vary across the province, but the BCTEA continues to advocate for a maximum of 20 students in all non-computer based shop classes (as per the BCTEA Best Practices, updated this past year.) We ask the bargaining committee to advocate for smaller class sizes system wide and specifically for class sizes no greater than 20 in Tech Ed shops.
Shop classes are becoming more and more difficult to run effectively. Budgets have remained relatively stagnant over the past 15 plus years, which in effect is a reduction in budget given the continued increase in material costs. The ministry seems to be content with allowing districts to solve the problem of upgrading equipment when no longer serviceable or when building a new school. This is causing reduced opportunity for students as districts simply make this low on their budget priorities and equipment is not replaced and new shops are getting bare minimum equipment at best. We ask the bargaining committee to advocate for improved capital asset funding, particularly for shop equipment that has met the above criteria.
On behalf of the BCTEA executive and all of our members, I truly want to thank you for your countless hours that will go into the bargaining process and for the work you do for all members of the Federation.
Nigel Reedman