General Offer of Service (GOS)
All non-permanent teachers must sign a GOS by the end of April. If you miss this deadline, you will lose your hiring priority. So do it as soon as possible and don’t get caught out!
Domestic Workers Petition
For decades now in Canada, domestic workers, most of whom are women, minorities and immigrants, have contributed to the Canadian economy, while their work goes by unseen, unrecognized and under-compensated. Not to mention the appalling fact that many have working conditions that render them virtual slaves to the household, with on-site accommodation and extended and on-call working hours; and their position renders them particularly vulnerable to verbal abuse, sexual harassment and other abuse.
Incredibly, Canada has not yet ratified the international convention for 2011 that would recognize and protect their rights as workers! A campaign has been underway since March of this year to pressure the government to ratify the International Labour Organization’s Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189). Please take a moment to add your voice to this call:
The Fneeq Common Declaration to the Proposed Science Program Revision
We had a province-wide meeting of CEGEP science teachers and union representatives March 28 to discuss the proposed science revision. A Common Declaration was developed in response to this proposal.
- Please see the attached document (in French).
A DEC is a DEC Everywhere in Quebec!
Fneeq has been organizing to protect to the Cegep system in the province by rallying teachers to the “DEC is a DEC” campaign. Over the last years, quality assurance ideologies have seeped into the ministry’s view of education, which has led to subtle and overt changes that lead Cegeps into becoming “distinct”, “with their own local flavor,” and therefore competitive. The downsides to this have become apparent during the discussions this winter about the proposed revision to the science program, where some colleges would suffer in enrollments, students would not graduate with the same qualifications for university, and adversity rather than collaboration would be fostered. To show your support for a unified DEC, please add the campaign logo to your email signature for the remainder of the semester.
- Please copy this into your email signature (above your email, go into “settings”, then “email signature,” then copy the image):
Celebrating our Retiring Colleagues
We are coming to that time of year when some dear colleagues, after a lifetime of teaching, decide to enjoy a new phase in life, away from the joys of marking and students, by going into retirement. Let’s celebrate them! Please know that the union has funds ($150 per retiree) that you can use to organize a party or towards a gift. Just contact the VCTA with your request for the retiring teacher, and afterwards, provide us the original receipts.
Newsletter
A great suggestion was made last year for the VCTA to resurrect our Newsletter. Newsletters in the past have included articles on topics from teaching life, union life in the world, women in unions, reports from conferences or student trips, environmental initiatives, financial issues, poetry, cartoons, and political crossword puzzles…
- Consider contributing a piece for May 15 2018!