Dear Editor:
Re: Teachers expect too much, Letters to the editor, The Record, May 9.
Insofar as wage fairness is concerned, that is certainly cause for thought. Considering that our last raised was in July 2010, and our last contract expired on July 2011 and we were legislated back to work with a stripped contract for a while after this and with no raise, then if our government is proposing 7.25 per cent until 2019 right now ... what they are really offering, spread over nine years (from 2011, the end of our last contract, to 2019), is a mere 0.8 per cent wage increase for each year since the last teacher salary increase ... and this comes at the price of contract concessions.
We can put this in perspective of other numbers that are out there.
For example, human resources consulting outfits, like JOUTA, were forecasting a three per cent salary increase to labour this year in Canada. As per B.C. stats, the projected salary growth for people in B.C. has fallen to 2.3 per cent for 2014 (a projected "fall" that ironically WAY beats the yearly 0.8 per cent offered to teachers) ... whereas it was 2.5 per cent in 2012 and 2.4 per cent in 2011 (and whereas B.C. teachers got zero per cent for these years).
Further, B.C. public sector unions have successfully negotiated three to five per cent salary increases between 2011 and 2013 (over three years), with many close to about 1.5 per cent per year, and some as much as three per cent for 2013 alone.
Another comparison would be that the 10-year average increase for the UBC pension plan has been 1.7 per cent (yes, even pension plans get fair increases). Also, the cost of living adjustment increases by about three per cent per year.
It's been a less lately, it has varied from a high of just below four per cent in 2011 to a low of about 0.5 per cent in 2012.
What the BCTF has on the table right now is a fair wage increase of 11 per cent over a four-year contract, including a cost-of-living adjustment formula.
But really, this should be seen in the perspective that we have not received a wage increase for a while, so it would mean about 1.8 per cent for each year since our last increase.
So, looking at these numbers, and in the spirit of a "fair wage increase," wherein people whose business it is to analyze trends say that a three per cent yearly increase is an expectation, wherein the cost of living goes up by about three per cent yearly, and wherein yearly salaries in the public sector are increasing by about 1.5 per cent or more in practice ... B.C. teachers' salary proposal certainly falls within what should be called fair ... whereas calling fair the government offer of 0.8 per cent per year is a little bizarre. In fact, it is not even close to what seems to be a reasonable expectation.
Yves Laforest, teacher, New Westminster
