After much deliberation, the ETEA Human Rights and International Solidarity Fund is proud to announce the winners of the inaugural (2017-2018) Charles Boylan Memorial Human Rights and International Solidarity Fund:

$1,000 to Feeding Nunavut, a non-profit organization providing food to impoverished, mainly indigenous communities in the Canadian north;

and

$1,500 to La Asociación Civil Maya Mam Ak’Aj Q’Ij, a Mayan school in the Western Highlands of Guatemala offering primary education in the local indigenous language on a very limited budget. Two ETEA members from Local 1 (ILSC) made applications to the fund on behalf of these projects.

Both organizations were deeply grateful to receive the funds, and the committee feels that each represents the legacy of Charles and are projects he himself would have enthusiastically supported.

The committee would like once again to thank FPSE for its generous contribution to help us honour Charles’ memory.

Moving forward, applications for the 2018-2019 fund ($500) are now open! The committee would like to receive all applications for consideration by March 1st, 2019. All current ETEA members are strongly encouraged to apply.

In solidarity,

ETEA Human Rights and International Solidarity Committee

Congratulations to the teachers at Global College Vancouver for officially joining the Education and Training Employees’ Association! 

A vote was held today in which Global College teachers overwhelmingly voted to join the union, becoming ETEA’s seventh active local.

You have taken the first steps on the road to bargaining for a collective agreement to advance the rights and interests of all of your members, which is the core of the labour union movement. While a great deal of work still lies before you, the first part is over, and you were successful! On behalf of all of our members, welcome! We look forward to working with you over the coming  months and years to improve our working conditions and raise the standards of the industry in this province. Solidarity!

Today, December 6th, is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence against Women. On this day, in conjunction with the ETEA Status of Women Committee and the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators, ETEA honours and remembers the victims of the 1989 École Polytechnique massacre, as well as all those around the world who suffer violence or unfair treatment because of their gender. As educators, we owe it to our students, our community, and ourselves to try to make things better.

Today, and always, we remember them.

ETEA will be holding a Special General Meeting on March 2nd, 2017 on the 4th floor of the YWCA at 535 Hornby Street. The meeting will be called to order at 6:30 pm. Light refreshments and snacks will be available from 6:00 to 6:30.

The purpose of this meeting is to make additions and amendments to the ETEA bylaws. In order for any changes to the by-laws to pass a two-thirds majority vote of the members present will be required.

There are three areas of proposed by-law changes:

1. A mid-term re-assessment of how much each local is required to pay ETEA Central. This change is to make the amount each local pays to ETEA Central more equitable.
2. A change to the review of ETEA finances to bring it in line with the requirements of the BC Labour Code
3. Adding articles around strikes, including a mechanism to establish an ETEA strike fund, how the fund can be used, and punishment for members that cross a legal picket line if their local goes on strike.

There is also a proposal for a dedicated dues increase in order to establish an ETEA strike fund. Before this proposal can be discussed, members must first approve a change to the by-laws.

An email with relevant documents for this meeting was sent using our mailing list. If you did not receive this email please subscribe to the mailing list or contact your local union representative.

ETEA is happy to announce that it is holding two related events on Thursday, December 1st, 2016. We’re having a social for private college and ESL instructors from 4:30 to 7:-00 pm at Goldies Pizza (605 West Pender Street, at Seymour, northwest side, downstairs). This will be a great chance to meet and/or reconnect with other ESL and career college teachers from different schools and institutes throughout the city, talk about work and life in the field of private post-secondary education, and relax after a long day at work. Different varieties of delicious pizza and one drink (alcoholic or non-alcoholic) will be provided to all attendees.

Immediately before the social, at the same location, we will be hosting a roundtable discussion on life in the private teaching field. Our moderators will be leading a discussion on questions like “are teaching jobs in the private sector suitable for long-term careers, or are they inevitably precarious, short-term, contract-based, substitute, or part-time?” and “do teachers in this industry we have the working conditions we need and deserve, and if not, how can we get them?” We hope to have approximately 10-12 teachers from various sections of the industry show up to the event, but all are welcome, and someone will be on site from ETEA regardless.

If you would like to attend either or both events please drop by, and tell your friends and colleagues in the field! If you’d like further information about these events, the venue, or the ETEA, please contact Dan at 778-855-0900.

Update: we held similar teachers’ outreach events on January 26th at Waves Coffee on Hastings, and on March 16th at Moose’s Down Under pub on Pender. We will continue to hold these kinds of events occasionally over the next few months to try to reach out to teachers in this city to talk about teaching careers and working conditions in Vancouver. See our Meetup.com page for more information. You can also check our facebook page or our Twitter account for updates!