Vancouver
Vigorous Campaign Supports English as a Second Language Teachers
 
Teachers at International Language Schools Canada (ILSC) in
Vancouver are calling for support in their fight to keep their jobs.
The English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers are members of the
Education and Training Employees Association (ETEA) which represents
about 200 teachers in Metro Vancouver. Since 1995 when the union
was organized, teachers have achieved wage increases and improvements
in their working conditions. Now the company is using the
conditions of the pandemic to justify taking away teachers' gains and to terminate them en masse. The ETEA is part
of the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators
of BC which reports that ILSC is the only language school with an ETEA
bargaining unit that did not reach an agreement on
extending recall rights as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. ILSC did
make an agreement with their teachers in Toronto to extend their recall
rights, an agreement it is refusing to make with its teachers in
Vancouver. The teachers' campaign slogan is "Extend Recall Rights for
ILSC Vancouver Teachers, TOO!"
The current collective agreement provides for recall rights for 12
months for teachers who are laid off. In April 2020, when it became
clear that in this extraordinary situation the provisions of the
collective agreement would not be adequate, the union approached the
ILSC management to negotiate the extension of recall rights but the
company
would not do so. About six weeks later the company approached the union
with a proposal to re-open the contract (in the middle of a four-year
term) to amend some aspects related to working conditions. The workers
did not agree with the proposed amendments, whereupon the company, 10
days later, offered to extend recall rights in exchange for
the amendments to working conditions that it wanted. Discussions
continued without resolution and in the Fall of 2020 the company
notified the union that the extension of recall rights was no longer on
the table and that they would be implementing the changes that they
wanted unilaterally, having found some legal justification to do so.
 Most
ILSC students are international students and current enrollment is
reduced by about 90 per cent. So far, 10 teachers have been terminated
and 20 more will have reached the end of their 12-month recall period
by May 1. It is estimated that up to 53 of the 75 teachers that were
working at the time of the pandemic-related closure would be
terminated by October. The school has stated in writing and verbally to
teachers it has let go, that they are free to re-apply once the
recovery begins to happen but, if re-hired, would lose all seniority
rights, vacation entitlements, benefits and position on the pay scale.
The ILSC Vancouver teachers have organized a variety of actions to
inform people of their situation and encourage everyone to put pressure
on ILSC. As of March 11 over 1,250 people had signed their online
petition. Past and present students and teachers have joined in a
social media campaign and other actions are organized for the week of
days of March 15.
To support the ILSC Teachers:
- Sign and circulate the petition;
- Visit and post on the Friends of ILSC Vancouver Teachers Facebook or Instagram pages.
This article was published in
March 12, 2021 - No. 16
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO08162.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
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