A Greater Victoria school trustee has slammed the district’s move to block temporary teachers from accepting contracts and then promptly going on maternity leave.
Calling the district’s actions “disgusting,” Catherine Alpha told a board meeting this week that she will fight any attempt to discriminate against pregnant teachers.
“I’m going to continue to work in the public to make sure that everyone knows that this is a violation of human rights and a violation of equality for women,” Alpha told a board meeting Monday, drowning out chairwoman Peg Orcherton, who was trying to call order.
“I’m going to work hard to get that petition brought forward and to get people to sign it,” said Alpha, who teaches in the Sooke district.
“I’m horrified.”
The district recently revealed that it wants to make availability a condition of employment so as to prevent substitute teachers from winning temporary contracts and then going on leave just weeks or months after starting work.
The district says the practice is on the increase and that it disrupts classrooms and stresses students.
It also ratchets up costs for the district, which can end up paying benefits and topping up employment insurance for multiple teachers in a single classroom. Labour relations manager Mark Walsh pegged the cost for the district at more than $250,000 a year.
The district intends to require that teachers applying for jobs agree to work at least half the contract.
“We do not feel that requiring temporary [teachers] to be available to perform the duties of the position is discriminatory,” Walsh told the board.
Trustee Tom Ferris said he respected Alpha’s views, but took issue with her portrayal of the district’s position.
“It’s not black hats and white hats here,” he said. “All the people who work for us here are not black hats.”
Ferris said the district is trying to strike a balance between teachers’ rights and the needs of students.
The teachers union, however, said it would file a grievance or take the district to the B.C. Human Rights Tribunal the first time a temporary teacher is prevented from taking a job and denied benefits because she is pregnant.
The union said substitute teachers are district employees and deserving of benefits like anyone else.
They sometimes work a series of temporary contracts for years before landing a tenured position, said Tara Ehrcke, past president of the Greater Victoria Teachers’ Association.
“The fact that it’s a temporary job doesn’t mean they’re a temporary employee.”
Yet, unlike other jobs, where workers get benefits after six months or a year on the job, temporary teachers get benefits only if they have a contract, the union said.
Alpha said in an interview that, under the district’s proposal, pregnant teachers would fall behind in pay, seniority and pension simply because they want to have a family.
She said the district should negotiate a middle ground that protects classroom stability while preserving teachers’ rights.
She suggested that a pregnant teacher who wins a contract could have the job and the benefits that come with it, but a second teacher would do the work in the classroom.
Alpha acknowledged that this form of “bookmarking” could still result in the district paying benefits and topped-up salary to two or more teachers on a single contract.
“It may create that situation, yes,” she said. “And justice, equality — those things do cost money. They’re worthwhile paying for.”
She said she’d much rather pay for that than some other things in the district.
“I think maybe we should cut the smartphone accounts for senior admin before we ever consider doing this to pregnant women,” she told the board meeting Monday.
“This is disgusting.”
