Why I "tow the party line": A teacher's thoughts on being a union member

I consider myself a "lucky" teacher. When I graduated from UBC with an education degree in a high-demand specialty, I had my pick of jobs in both the public and private school systems. Having previously been a member of both the BCGEU and CUPE, I was well versed in the benefits and challenges of being a union member. I entered the teaching profession within the last ten years so I was fully aware of the acrimonious relationship between the provincial government and the BCTF. Nevertheless, it never occurred to me to teach in anything but the public education system and become a proud member of the BCTF. I walked into this seemingly never-ending fight with my eyes wide open. I'm an active union member. I attend the meetings and sit on my executive. I don't do this because I blindly follow union rules and directives. I do it because it is part of my job as a public school teacher. When I signed up to be a public school teacher, I also signed up to be a member of the BC Teacher's Federation. In my eyes, you are not one or the other - you are both. I'm not doing this because I love meetings, or because I quote my collective agreement to my administration. I don't agree with every decision my union makes but I understand that decisions are made following a set of agreed upon rules and a code of ethics. If I don't agree with something, I speak up. That is also part of being a collective. Individual voices working together for the good of the collective. As a specialist high school teacher, I have to admit that sometimes I don't really feel like this is "my" fight. I don't have issues with class size and composition. But I am part of a collective and my collective is drowning in issues of class size, class composition, inadequate support services and under-funding. And that makes this "our" fight. Because, although I am a "lucky" specialist teacher today, I don't know where I will be tomorrow. And what benefits the collective could be what I will need at some point. This week I walked the picket line, in the rain, at 5:30 in the morning. I hate mornings and I live an hour away from my district. I also sat in a lawn chair on the sidewalk for four days at lunch. I had a sign which read: Our Kids are Worth It. I've lost a day's salary and have had my salary "rolled back" 10%. I dutifully get up and exit my school at 3:45 because I am "locked out" leaving behind mountains of marking. The dozen or so kids I help everyday during lunch are not getting that support. This is not my choice; it is my employer's. I did all these things - even though I feel, honestly, like a sitting duck on the sidewalk holding a sign - because I'm part of something bigger than just me and what I want or need. I'm doing these things because the teacher down the hall has a class of 30 with a half dozen or so IEPs and about another dozen waiting for some sort of testing or support. Standing in the rain or sitting on the sidewalk seems like small potatoes compared to these daily challenges. And, I don't forget, could one day be me. In my nearly 20 years of being a union member, this is what I have learned: 1. There are always union members who resent being or are apathetic about being union members. These are the colleagues who continue with their work after the 45 minute lock-out deadline, the people who pretend the school is a community centre after a certain hour, the people who continue with the extra curricular activities. My question for these people is: why did you sign up for this job? There are jobs in the private sector and you'd save money on what you consider "useless" union dues. All this is doing is undermining the work of the collective - the collective which is working on your behalf. You might not need that now but someday you will. So, in short, you are undermining your own support. 2. Your employer may "support" you but he does not have your back. Your union does. This is nothing personal. The union's mandate is to have your back; your employer's is not. This is goal #9 in the BCTF's member's guide. I'm an active member of my union because I also recognize that, at the end of the day, the first person who needs to look out for my own best interest is me. I want to make sure that the union is working for me. 3. The resentful or apathetic union members, no matter what the profession, are usually the people who run the fastest to the union when they have a problem with their employer. We are in an odd situation with a rotating strike and the partial, alternating times lock-out. I am baffled by the people who pick and choose what aspects to stand up for. Your working conditions and your profession - your livelihood and how you support yourself and your family - are under attack. What would you do if you came knocking on your union's door looking for support and they decided to randomly pick and choose which aspects of your issue they would act upon?