Local teacher Kelly Shellard invited the Burnaby NOW down to Second Street Community School to see how the teachers' job action is playing out on the ground.
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In true teacher fashion, Kelly Shellard unfolds a poster-sized paper, listing all the work her colleagues do outside the classroom.
"I put this in the staff room and asked: How do we volunteer?" And her coworkers at Second Street Community School wrote their answers in coloured markers.
During her lunch break, seated on the edge of the sick bed surrounded by stuffed animals in a small back room of the office, Shellard reviews the items teachers help with: coaching teams, after school music lessons, carnivals, bike fair, pancake breakfast, school dances at night, a kids' banking program, a student mentorship and leadership program, literacy week activities, helping students acting as peer mediators, Christmas concerts, student teacher meetings after school - the list is exhaustive, but that seems to come with the territory.
"Most people don't realize all these things are volunteer," Shellard says. "We do all these things above and beyond (regular hours) because we want what's best for kids. We want to meet their needs. That's the way teaching has always been. It's a real fallacy to think we work 9 a.m. to 3 p.m."
Shellard, an elementary teacher who's been on the job since 1994, points out at that teachers are still spending time outside the classroom during the job action. In fact, the partial strike really hasn't changed much.
"There's not a lot I'm doing differently," she says. Apart from not meeting with administration or writing report cards, everything is business as usual.
Report cards are one of a few items teachers are backing off from as part of the job action, which started in September. In response to negotiations with the provincial government, which weren't really going anywhere, the B.C. Teachers' Federation called for their ranks to halt administrative work. That means no report cards, no supervising playgrounds at recess, no parent-teacher interviews, no meetings or written communication with administration, and no handling money for fundraisers - for schools or charities.
Extracurricular activities, however, are already voluntary, so they are not affected. Teachers are still staying after class to help with things like sports teams, Shellard points out.
And while she's not issuing report cards, a task that usually takes three weekends of her time, Shellard is still keeping track of how her Grade 2/3 students are doing and is letting the parents know.
"We've met with a lot of parents," she says. "Even though we are not writing report cards, we're still taking data."
But, Shellard points out, there's no formal evening where teachers are scheduled to stay late to talk with parents.
The main sticking point in the labour dispute has been the provincial government's net-zero mandate, which means no pay increases in negotiations for public sector employees between 2010 and 2012, something Shellard, and the teachers' union, have a problem with.
"I think I'm worth more than zero per cent," says the single mom of a toddler. "We live in a really expensive province. I think we work a lot and we deserve an increase. It's hard to make ends meet. . I would at least like to keep up with the costs of living."
Shellard declined to comment on her salary, but according to the Burnaby Teachers' Association, a new hire earns $46,000, while a teacher with 10 years' experience makes $74,000 (or $82,000 if they have a master's degree. Most teachers have four or five years of post-secondary education.) For benefits, they get extended medical, dental and partial coverage of MSP premiums. There are two months off for summer, one week off in winter and one week off for spring break (although some districts have a two-week spring break). That time off is not paid, but some teachers bring in extra money working at summer school. Some preparation time is covered by their salary, which is based on how many days school is in session each year, but Shellard says teachers often spend their own time marking or preparing lessons.
Both the BCTF and the B.C. Public School Employers' Association, the bargaining agent for the provincial government, have acknowledged the strike is having an impact, and it's the principals, vice-principals and district staff that are picking up the slack.
Kevin Kaardal, an assistant superintendent with the Burnaby school district, says the job action adds tasks to people's work.
"It creates challenges when communication is required with teachers, because they won't meet with administrators," he says. "Probably the biggest impact is our principals are instructional leaders, they lead the learning, best practices development in the schools, . They work in a collaborative model, that's the joy that comes with that job, (and) that's been impacted."
Also, administrators will be handling the annual Foundation Skills Assessment tests, which are normally run by teachers, and Kaardal may end up supervising exams.
District staff have been travelling to schools to supervise playgrounds during recess in the absence of teachers. (CUPE employees cover lunchtime supervision.)
Like many, Kaardal hopes the job action ends soon.
"It's the longest strike action teachers have taken in provincial history. It's not minor," he says. "Even though teachers are communicating more than ever with parents, we worry there may be kids who slip through the cracks because there is no overview of the process. . We just hope negotiations in the end are successful. It doesn't seem that's where they are headed."
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