Susan Lambert retained her position as president of the B.C. Teachers' Federation following a vote at the union's annual general meeting yesterday. Of the roughly 700 delegates attending the AGM, 429 re-elected Lambert while 238 voted for the more moderate Rick Guenther. This is Lambert's third term as BCTF president.
Meanwhile, Lambert continues to insist all options are still on the table in response to Bill 22-including illegal job action even though it would lead to hefty fines under the new law. The announcement on what course of action the union will take is expected this morning.
During a break from the union's AGM Monday afternoon, Lambert said delegates are discussing options, which vary from teachers withdrawing their volunteer support of extracurricular activities to a full-scale province wide walkout. Teachers in a number of school districts, such as Burnaby and West Van, have voted to cease extracurricular activities, but it is unknown what Vancouver teachers plan.
However, under the province's Bill 22 such a job action would cost the BCTF over $1 million per day on top of a maximum of $475 per teacher daily. Despite this devastating financial burden, Lambert said she is willing to back the illegal job action.
"If the 41,000 members of the B.C. Teachers' Federation decide that we are going to take the action that will incur fines, well then I will be incurring fines, I suppose," Lambert told reporters outside the Vancouver Art Gallery Monday while hail poured from the skies.
Lambert said the BCTF, which has reportedly drained its collective bargaining agreement fund to $5 million from $11 million in January, wouldn't be able to afford the illegal job action, but federation leaders are debating whether to rack up the fines anyway.
"That's the moral choice that's facing teachers across the province," she said. "Either you stand up to an unjust law and knowingly take the risk or you find other ways of resisting that unjust law."
Earlier, it was reported BCTF delegates voted in favour of increasing membership fees in order to raise money for their battle against the back-to-work legislation. In order to replenish the union's funds, the meeting approved an increase to 0.2 per cent of teachers' salaries.
When asked if teachers would be prepared to break the law, Lambert said: "I think that what we're seeing is a law that's prepared to break us - so we are deciding what our actions will be and that decision will be made in committee by [the members]."
Lambert said "teachers across the province are outraged with this bill," which is not simply about collective bargaining. That anger spilled out on to the streets with a rally held during a break of the AGM. "There will be an action plan," said George Serra, the president of the Maple Ridge teachers' association. "Teachers know they have to respond. We can't just lie down to this. It just depends on what that will look like."
Meanwhile, Education Minister George Abbott is in China on provincial business and Lambert said some B.C. teachers have also made the trip to voice their frustrations.
"I know that there are teachers over there and they are going to use the opportunity to tell him what they think about this outrageous legislation."
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