Federation of Post-Secondary Educators of BC

The federal government is pushing hard to make a significant change in the way Statistics Canada conducts the 2011 Census.  If the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada, Tony Clement, has his way, the long form portion of the Census will be eliminated, and replaced with a voluntary data-gathering instrument.

With close to 540 delegates drawn from all provinces and territories in Canada, the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum (CAF) met in Saint John's Newfoundland and Labrador last week to consider the road ahead for trades training in Canada.

There is a lot of momentum created when the representatives of 10,000 post-secondary educators in BC unite around a single plan for action in their sector. That's what happened last week as delegates at FPSE's 30th Annual Convention unanimously supported the Convention Action Plan, a plan that will target the organization's resources, staff and leadership on five key priorities. Those priorities included:

Workplace stress comes in many forms, has many effects and, ultimately, can prove to be damaging not just for the worker who experiences the stress, but also the workplace where the stress is generated. It was with that in mind the our Federation, in conjunction with the Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT), developed a survey instrument to measure and assess the kind of stress that post-secondary educators are experiencing here in BC.

Solidarity has always been an integral part of the labour movement. It is a recognition by all that we share a common struggle and a common history. But our solidarity often extends far beyond those in unions. The labour movement has a long history of extending solidarity to the broader community where the fight for justice and equality is as critical an outcome as it is for those within our ranks.

BC's Finance Minster Colin Hansen has to be more than a little nervous these days. With his credibility in disarray following a 2009 budget that completely missed the obvious economic implosion that was rolling across North America and a September 2009 "Update" designed to finally concede what he tried to deny seven months earlier, his latest fiscal plan shows little in the way of vision, credibility or fairness.

Two years ago, FPSE made a major commitment to fund, staff and resource a broadly based effort to unionize private post-secondary institutions in our province. The commitment was part of a broader recognition within FPSE that instructors working at private institutions needed our help. Their salary levels were inadequate. There were little if any additional benefits. Decision making within the institutions was top-down, arbitrary and left no room for faculty input.

October 26 marks the beginning of Fair Employment Week when post-secondary educators across Canada and the United States speak out on the problems facing contingent academic staff. The problems are real and continue to grow. About one third of FPSE members are non-regular faculty. Across Canada the number is closer to 40 percent.

Every year Presidents' Council devotes a full day session to meeting with MLAs in Victoria. Our objective is to give both opposition and government MLAs a firsthand report on how our public post-secondary system is doing.

Over the last eight years, it hasn't always been easy meeting with government-side MLAs and Cabinet Ministers. Openness and accessibility have not been hallmarks of their operating style.

Good government and collective bargaining have one thing in common: their ultimate success depends on good faith.  Diminish that good faith in any way and you set in motion a process that ultimately de-rails attempts to reach any sensible outcome.

In both instances good faith requires credibility.  Without it, governments couldn’t build the necessary consensus within the constituent groups needed to make public policy function.  And in collective bargaining, without credibility neither side would have the capacity to reach a deal.