ETEA is a union of autonomous private sector teachers’ bargaining units that operate within a framework of support and emerging professional standards. If you are a teacher at a private sector school and you call us for help with organizing your school we will offer our experience and expertise. Once certified you will become an ETEA member at your own ETEA local and you will have access to a wide variety of vital resources.
For example, after certification you will need to negotiate a contract and resolve any outstanding conflicts with your employer. ETEA and our allies in the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators (FPSE), the federation of unions to which we belong, will help you get your first contract and deal with any issues that come up along the way, such as electing your executive and shop stewards and administering your Collective Agreement.
The first year is the most challenging because although your school is bound by the articles in your Collective Agreement, management may still have a tendency to try to do things its way. Any time managers don’t follow the contract you will need to file a grievance. It might seem awkward at first, but the power you have will be very different from what you had before, and you will get used to it. It will become your new professional identity. We will be with you every step of the way as you learn how to advocate for the specific needs that best serve the members of your local.
ETEA has a central executive that oversees the needs of its member locals. Member locals operate autonomously but are connected through shared committees, an Annual General Meeting and occasional other meetings, and through its executive, called Central Council. ETEA is Local 21 within FPSE.
Note: Local 4 (Bodwell Language School) closed in 2009. ETEA has retired the number.
Locals 5 (New York Institute of Technology(NYIT)) and 12 (Cloud Nine College) currently do not have Collective Agreements in place.
Locals 8 (formerly both Western Town Business College (WTBC) and Pan Pacific College (PPC), later combined as Pan Pacific Career College (PPCC)) and 10 (formerly PGIC) were purchased by the same company, which closed PPPC and amalgamated PGIC into Sprott Shaw Language College (Local 6), along with the former KGIC (ETEA Local 6) and another school called SEC. WTBC and PPC did not have Collective Agreements in place when they closed; PGIC did, but KGIC’s Collective Agreement became the successor agreement for Local 6 (SSLC).
Local 9 (formerly Vancouver English Centre (VEC)) closed in 2016.
Local numbers 8, 9, 10 and 13 are currently unassigned by the union.
Collective Agreements
Local 1 – International Language Schools of Canada Vancouver (ILSC)
Local 6 – Sprott Shaw Language College (SSLC)
Local 11 – Hanson International Academy