The ETEA Files Complaint against ILSC with the BC Labour Relations Board

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On January 25th the ETEA filed a complaint against ILSC under Section 54 of the BC Labour Relations Code. Section 54 requires that “If an employer introduces or intends to introduce a measure, policy, practice or change that affects the terms, conditions or security of employment of a significant number of employees to whom a collective agreement applies” the Employer must meet in good faith with the union to try to develop an adjustment plan. Due to the global pandemic ILSC was not able to recall their teachers to work as would normally happen. As a result over 50 teachers will have their recall rights expire and their employment with ILSC terminated.

ILSC had a legal obligation to meet with the union to form an adjustment plan once it realized it would not be able to recall teachers as they normally would. They did not do this, and instead told the union that they had no interest in discussing an extension of recall rights. ILSC has offered to hire teachers back when operations return to normal, but without their accumulated seniority and at the starting wage of the pay scale. This represents a pay reduction of up to 25% for these teachers, many of whom have over ten years of experience teaching with ILSC. It is not surprising that ILSC would be willing to hire trained, skilled and knowledgeable teachers back at starting wages and with no seniority. It shows a complete lack of respect and recognition for the work these teachers have contributed to the success of ILSC.

A few important facts about the dispute between the ETEA and ILSC:

– ILSC is the only language school with an ETEA bargaining unit that did not reach an agreement with the ETEA on extending recall rights as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.

– ILSC reached an agreement with their teachers in Toronto to extend their recall rights. It is only the teachers in Vancouver whose recall rights they won’t extend.

This global pandemic has been a challenge on both employees and employers. The majority of the employers the ETEA works with have handled this difficult time with respect to the union and have worked cooperatively with ETEA Bargaining Units. We encourage any former students or agents to contact ILSC and let them know how disappointed you are that the company is using the pandemic in such an opportunistic fashion, and at the expense of hard working and long serving teachers.

Tell ILSC NO! to driving down workers’ wages and rights!

ILSC Contact Information:
Phone 604-689-9095 | Email info@ilsc.com | Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ilscvan/

ILSC profits on the knowledge and experience of workers – now they want to profit off the pandemic too. Show your support for ETEA workers by sending a message to ILSC saying:

“Do the right thing ILSC. Extend the recall rights for your Vancouver teachers too!”

National Day Of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women

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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.

On this day and always, we remember them.

Charles Boylan Fund Donation 2020

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This year, the Education and Training Employees’ Association is proud to announce that the Charles Boylan Memorial Human Rights and International Solidarity Fund in the amount of $1,300 will be awarded to the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation. Our ETEA members are passionate teachers who believe in the importance of language education for career opportunities, academic advancement, immigration, and personal growth. However, we are also aware that the lands on which we teach, work and live are the unceded and traditional territories of numerous First Nations, with ancient, uninterrupted connections to the land and water. We recognize that one of the worst injustices perpetrated by colonialism in what is now called British Columbia has been the degradation of local indigenous languages. Language has always played a central role in culture and identity, and a link to those who have come before us. Fortunately, there is now an effort underway to reduce this trend and revitalize indigenous languages in this province. Leading the way for the past several years has been the First Peoples’ Cultural Foundation, an indigenous organization dedicated to “inspir[ing] and empower[ing] British Columbia First Nations to revitalize and enhance their languages, arts and cultures… as we race against time to avoid the extinction of precious Indigenous knowledge, cultures and languages.


Charles Boylan was a long-time activist and educator in BC. A union organizer, passionate human rights defender, candidate for political office, and a force for organized labour in BC, he spent his last years as part of ETEA. He spearheaded our participation in the Federation of Post-Secondary Educators’ Human Rights and International Solidarity Committee, and for a long time he served as ETEA’s committee virtually by himself. He was a mentor to many of us in the union, and often led by example. When he passed in 2017 his legacy was honoured by establishing a memorial fund in his name, to be distributed annually in areas of education, human rights, and social justice. He supported indigenous people and causes, and helped organize speakers’ tours around indigenous issues. We strongly believe that he would agree with the decision to award these funds in his name for 2019-2020. As teachers ourselves, we believe this is a highly appropriate cause, and we hope our modest contribution will help the FPCF’s important and continuing efforts.

The ETEA